Start with These 7 Plants for Easy Herb Growing

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. Their needs are few, which means there's not much tending required of you. In fact, the most important tending task is the most rewarding: harvesting from your herbs.

And you'll get to start harvesting from your herbs very soon—the very same day if you bring plants home from the nursery—and then you'll get to continue harvesting for the entire growing season. The more you cut from the herbs growing in your garden, the more they grow for you.

The 7 herbs on this list are super easy to grow when their simple needs are met: don't cram them into a teeny tiny pot, prioritize good drainage, give them at least 4 hours of sunlight a day, water when the soil is dry 1 inch down, and harvest regularly to promote new growth. That's it. Nothing special about it.

If you start growing these 7 herbs, you shouldn't even have to buy them from the grocery store ever again—that's how easy they are to grow!

7 Easy Herbs for Beginner Gardeners

• oregano
• sage
• thyme
• parsley
• chives
• mint
• lemon balm

Oregano Is One of the Best Herbs to Grow in Your Garden

Oregano is one of the first herbs I ever had success growing. My mom actually planted some oregano seeds in my flower beds shortly after I'd given birth to my second child, and those plants grew and grew, even though I was way too busy with my babies to so much as water them.

Oregano is a perennial herb. That means it'll come back year after year. In a colder climate like my garden in Chicago, oregano will die back and then return in the spring. In a warmer climate like my garden in Houston, oregano stays productive all year long.

This is a super prolific herb. You can harvest from it again and again, and you're going to love never having to buy it from the grocery store ever again.

Tips to Grow Oregano

• You can grow oregano in your landscape like I did. It does great right in the ground if you don't have raised bed space. You can also grow oregano in a raised bed or large container (at least 12 inches wide and deep).
• You can plant oregano seeds straight in your garden, start oregano seeds indoors, or just go buy a plant from your local nursery. You'll get a great return on your investment.
• If you're growing oregano in a raised bed, prune it from the back so that you encourage your plant to grow over the edge of your raised bed. That way, it'll take up less space in the interior.
• You can easily divide oregano that's spread out a bit too much by cutting it in half, digging up the root ball on one side, and replanting it elsewhere.
• Prune brown or spotted leaves regularly.

How to Use Oregano in Your Kitchen

You can use your oregano leaves fresh or dry them for future use. If you're using fresh leaves in a recipe that calls for dried, just use about three times as many leaves so you still get the full flavor impact. Wait until your meal is cooked to add the leaves since fresh leaves don't hold up to heat.

Oregano is really nice on grilled vegetables like zucchini and eggplant, plus pastas, pizza, and Greek salads. You can add it to homemade dressings and sauces to amp up the flavor (don't limit yourself to pasta sauce). It pairs really nicely with citrus.

Sage Is a Prolific Herb to Grow in Your Garden

Sage is surprisingly hard to kill for such a pretty little plant. It can grow in full sun or partial shade, blazing heat or chilly temps.

Sage is another perennial herb, and it'll come back in most gardening zones. You may have to replant sage every year if you live in a colder climate. My sage returns every year here in Nashville. Actually, several of my sage plants never even died back this past winter, even though we had 5 inches of snow.

Sage is a wonderful plant to put alongside the edges of your vegetable garden. It puts off a strong smell that makes it a natural pest repellent. You'll be able to harvest from your sage again and again. Cut sprigs right at the base. You can even cut some sprigs and root them so you have even more sage plants!

Tips to Grow Sage

• I like to grow sage in a raised bed or large container (at least 12 inches wide and deep) alongside my most precious veggies I want to keep pest-free.
• You can start sage indoors, or you can plant seeds directly in the garden in the spring or fall.
• Don't be afraid to give your sage plants a really heavy pruning if they're getting too woody.
• Prune yellowing or spotted leaves regularly.

How to Use Sage in Your Kitchen

You definitely want to harvest enough sage during the growing season to use fresh. Hang any leftover sprigs to dry, and now you have sage all winter long.

Sage is wonderful inside risotto and ravioli or tossed on a pizza with some prosciutto and honey—yum! You can add sage to sauces, marinades, soups, salt rubs, compound butters, and bread. Sage pairs well with pumpkin, squash, and pork. For an easy homemade herb mix, try sage and thyme together.

Thyme Is a Low-Maintenance Herb to Grow

Thyme is another super easy herb to grow. Like sage and oregano, it's really forgiving. It doesn't demand a lot of sun or space, and it'll grow right on the edge of your raised bed and trail over the side so that you hardly have to give it any space at all.

Once your plant is established, you can harvest thyme pretty much daily. It'll just keep growing back. You can root cuttings from these plants to grow new ones, and thyme comes back year after year in zones 6 and up. In colder climates, you might have to replant thyme every spring, but when it's warmer, these perennial plants never stop growing.

Tips to Grow Thyme

• If you don't have raised bed space, you can grow thyme right in your landscape. It makes great ground cover. It also grows really well in containers thanks to its shallow roots.
• Grow thyme from seed or grab a little thyme plant from the store. You'll get more than your money's worth in just a couple harvests.
• Prune/harvest thyme stems all the way at the base of the plant to prevent your plant from growing woody.
• Thyme is easily divided if your plant grows too large. Just use a sharp spade to divide the plant in two, pull one side of the root ball from the soil, and replant it. Keep it well watered until it's established.

How to Use Thyme in Your Kitchen

I love using fresh thyme to add an earthy, citrusy flavor to meals, but you can also dry thyme for later. The easiest way to use thyme is as a seasoning for roasted vegetables alongside some EVOO, salt, and pepper. You can crumble thyme and make your own bouquet garni or whatever spice blend strikes your fancy. Brew a soothing thyme tea with some lemon and honey the next time you have a sore throat.

Parsley Is One of the Best Herbs to Grow for Cooking

I don't know about you, but I use parsley in so many different dishes, and it's super easy to grow.

Parsley is a little bit different from oregano, sage, and thyme because it's in the carrot plant family, not the main herb family. This herb is a biennial, which means it wants to live at least two years in the garden before it goes to seed. That's good news for us! Plant parsley once and harvest from it again and again this year and then again next year, as long as the conditions are favorable. My parsley has survived two winters here in Nashville now.

You can pick if you want to grow curly parsley or flat-leaf parsley. Curly parsley tends to last longer in freezing temps because the bumpy texture on the leaves protects it from the cold. For me, that meant I got to harvest parsley all winter long!

Tips to Grow Parsley

• Parsley adds wonderful height and texture to raised beds or container gardens.
• Parsley is easy to grow from seed, but it does take a while to get started. It's always worth it to buy a little parsley plant from the store if you want these tasty leaves ASAP. Just be careful anytime you're transplanting parsley. Try to avoid disturbing the carrot-like taproot because it's very sensitive.
• Once your plant is 6 inches tall, begin harvesting those outer parsley leaves weekly by cutting them near the base of the plant. Prune any yellowing leaves.

How to Use Parsley in Your Kitchen

I toss parsley on just about everything: salads, soups, casseroles, roasts, rice bowls. I also love making garden-fresh chimichurri to rub on grilled meats.

Parsley is excellent for fresh use, but you can also freeze the leaves whole or chop them and freeze them in an ice cube tray along with some olive oil. Toss the cubes in your soups all winter long. You can dry parsley the way you would the other herbs, but I personally don't care for the flavor.

Chives Are the Absolute Easiest Herb to Grow

Chives are the least fussy plant in the garden. Period. If you've never tried growing them before, you're going to be so pleasantly surprised. Chives play well with pretty much any other plant. They don't need a lot of space. They don't need a lot of sun. They're fine if you water them or if you neglect them. Whatever you do to your plants (or forget to do), they'll be just fine.

The best part is chives put off a smell that distracts or even deters pests. That means chives help protect your kale, spinach, lettuce, and cabbage leaves from creepy crawly caterpillars.

Choose between garlic chives (which have flat stems and white flowers) or onion chives (which have tubular stems and purple flowers). Onion chives are my favorite type. Both types are perennials, so they'll come back year after year. If you live somewhere warm, your chives plants will stay productive all year.

Tips to Grow Chives

• Chives are a little more difficult to grow from seed, so I recommend just buying a chives plant from the store. This plant will last for years and years, so it's well worth your money.
• Chives self-sow really easily (that just means you'll get a bunch of chives plants popping up next year if you let your plants flower and then drop seeds). Harvest the chives blossoms early to prevent volunteer plants, especially if you're growing garlic chives.
• Chives are super easy to divide if you want to spread them out in your garden more.
• Harvest chives by gathering several stems in your hand and cutting near the soil line.

How to Use Chives in Your Kitchen

What better way to add a little extra onion or garlic flavor to your dishes than with chives? Toss them on soups, omelettes, baked potatoes, grilled meats, sandwiches, and salads. Add them to sauces and dressings.

Fresh chives are so much tastier than the stuff that comes in a little plastic package at the store. Extra chives are super easy to dry or freeze.

Spearmint & Peppermint Are the Best Herbs to Grow in Pots

Oregano and thyme can spread quite a good bit, but they're nowhere near as aggressive as their cousin, mint. Mint varieties, including spearmint and peppermint, are so easy to grow you might find yourself growing nothing but mint if you're not careful.

Mint is a perennial herb, but it's not quite as frost hardy as oregano and sage. You may need to replant it each year. Or take cuttings of your mint plant each fall, root them over the winter, and have free plants ready to grow in spring.

Tips to Grow Mint

• Grow mint on its own in a large container or pot. If you'd like to grow it in your landscape, you can keep it in a nursery pot placed in the ground or use it as ground cover.
• If you're growing more than one type of mint, keep your containers at least a couple feet apart so that they retain their distinct aromas.
• Consider bringing your potted mint plants indoors over winter.

How to Use Mint in Your Kitchen

Mint has so many uses in the kitchen. Spearmint is great for savory dishes, like Mediterranean-themed meals, salads, and mint tea, and peppermint is better for sweeter dishes. Both are excellent to add some flavor to your drinks or fruit bowl.

You can dry mint leaves or freeze them with some water in a tray for refreshing ice cubes for summer drinks.

Lemon Balm Is the Best Herb to Grow in Your Flower Beds

Lemon balm is a super hardy little plant. It can tolerate temps in the 90s, drought, frost, neglect—you name it. It's another perennial, and my plants would pop back every spring even after some pretty harsh Chicago winters. Lemon balm also drops seeds pretty easily, so you may find yourself with lemon balm plants in new places each year.

Tips to Grow Lemon Balm

• Lemon balm is slow to grow from seed, so I recommend grabbing some plant starts from your nursery in the spring.
• Lemon balm isn't as aggressive as mint, but it is a pretty large plant. I like to grow it in the ground, right in my pollinator garden. Just give it a good square foot or two to itself. You can also grow it in a container.
• To harvest lemon balm, cut the stems right at the base of the plant to stimulate new growth. 

How to Use Lemon Balm in Your Kitchen

I toss chopped lemon balm leaves into salads and salad dressing for a citrusy kick. Dried lemon balm is excellent for cozy winter teas. The benefits of drinking lemon balm tea range from improved digestion to alleviating anxiety, so it's a great drink for just before bedtime.

Basil, Dill, & Cilantro Are Easy to Grow in the Right Season

There are three more herbs that are super easy to grow but not quite as easy as the perennials mentioned above. Basil, dill, and cilantro are annual herbs, which means they grow really easily from seed but only last for a season or two in your garden. The key with growing annual herbs is to get the timing right.

Basil

Basil needs warmer weather to grow. Don't plant basil seeds or plants in your garden until you're for sure past your last frost date. You can grow basil in the ground, in a large pot or container, or in your raised beds. Harvest from your basil regularly to prevent your plant from flowering. Then at the end of the season, let your plants flower for the pollinators. (Learn more about growing basil.)

Use up basil in sauces, caprese salads, and pesto.

Dill

Dill prefers to grow in cool weather. You can stat planting dill from seed before your last frost in the spring and then again in the fall. Dill grows great in container gardens and raised beds. Just keep in mind when you're planting it that it can grow several feet tall. Harvest from your dill frequently while it's nice and cool out. Once the weather warms up, let your dill flower so it can help feed our bees and butterflies. (Learn more about growing dill).

Use fresh dill as soon as possible for the best flavor. Dill doesn't dry well, but you can freeze the leaves in oil.

Cilantro

Like dill, cilantro also needs cool weather to grow. Many gardeners try to grow cilantro over the summer and end up thinking it's a difficult plant, when it's really just an issue of timing. Cilantro will bolt, or go to seed, once the temps rise into the 70s and 80s. (Learn more about growing cilantro).

I love tossing cilantro on tacos and scrambled eggs. Cilantro and lime juice are a winning combo in the kitchen.

Grow Your Own Easy Herbs

Look, there's no reason for you to keep buying your favorite of these herbs from the grocery store. They're so easy to grow in a small space. All of them but mint and lemon balm play well with the vegetables in your raised beds. And none of them has many tending needs, yet their production is prolific.

Seriously, you're not going to believe how many times you can harvest from each and every one of these herb plants. So I hope you join me in growing enough herbs at home this year to skip past those little plastic packages of herbs from the grocery store. If each one of us grows just a few of these easy herbs, we can make a huge difference!