9 Reasons to Add More Herbs to Your Garden
In addition to having my own herb garden planter, I grow herbs in the corners and along the edges of my raised bed kitchen gardens. I even plant herbs in my pollinator garden to spread the herb love with bees and butterflies.
I mean, what's not to love about herb plants? These are my top reasons to grow more herbs in your garden:
Reason #1: Herbs are easy to grow
Because herbs are so forgiving of their growing conditions (including sunlight, soil, and water), they're the perfect plants for beginner gardeners. In fact, the Gardenary path to gardening success is to start with herbs first, then leafy greens, then root crops, and then fruiting plants. Overall, herbs are so low-maintenance that your main tending task is just to harvest from them often to promote more growth.
Reason #2: Herbs don't need much space to grow
Herbs can grow in a small container or pot, or they can stretch to fill out an entire corner of a raised bed. They'll basically take whatever room you give them. I like to add herbs to the very corners and along the edges of raised beds to fill in around larger plants in the middle.
Reason #3: Planting a variety of herbs is an easy way to diversify your garden
Outdoor spaces filled with plant variety become healthy and thriving ecosystems in their own right. Adding just a few different herbs is such a simple way of avoiding the monocultures that are the typical American backyard.
Reason #4: Herbs smell great
If you're in need of a little pick-me-up, step outside and rub some rosemary or lavender between your fingers. I guarantee you'll feel better. While you're at it, snip some sprigs and take them inside for dinner.
Reason #5: Herbs don't require a ton of sun
If you have a shady space that gets at least four hours of sun, you could plant a little herb garden there. Herbs prefer receiving six or more hours of sun, but they'll continue growing with as little as four (you just might not get as much leaf production).
Reason #6: Herbs add beauty to your space
From the feathery leaves of a dill plant to the silvery velvet of sage, each herb is as attractive as the last. I love the look of trailing herbs like rosemary or oregano spilling elegantly over the side of a raised bed.
Reason #7: Flowering herbs attract pollinators to your garden
Bees and butterflies love when dill, parsley, basil, and other herbs flower. Growing organic herbs anywhere you can fit them in your outdoor space is a great way to ensure our garden good guys have healthy food to enjoy.
Reason #8: Herbs can be harvested from again and again
You can harvest from most herb plants on at least a weekly basis. It's actually best that you cut them regularly to encourage them to branch out more, instead of growing tall and leggy. Cutting just above a leaf node tells the plant to grow more stems and more leaves (the parts of herbs that we want). Even better, if you plant a mature herb in your garden, you can harvest immediately after planting.
Reason #9: Just-harvested herbs taste so much better than store-bought
Herbs that you cut yourself have so much more flavor and nutrients than the store-bought variety. If you're craving a more garden-to-table lifestyle, the easiest way to accomplish that is to pot up some herbs, create an herb garden outdoors, or add some herbs to your existing raised beds so that you can dash outside, cut some sprigs, and bring them indoors to toss onto whatever you're cooking.
How can you fit more herbs in your space?
Four Herb Garden Ideas to Help You Grow More Herbs
Here are four different ways you can add more herbs into your life, in order from super easy to okay, you gotta put some effort into this, but the results will be so worth it!
Level one: grow herbs in pots
The planter, pot, or container you pick to grow your herbs in needs to be at least 6 inches deep. Be sure to check on your herbs frequently since the soil in a small pot will dry out much faster than the soil in a raised bed or the ground.
I like terra cotta pots because they help regulate the moisture level and come with a nice, big drainage hole. They're also a great budget option but still quite attractive.
Learn more about how to grow herbs in a small space.
Level two: add herbs to a pollinator garden
If you already have an in-ground pollinator or wildflower garden, add some herbs to further delight the bees and butterflies.
Anise hyssop is a beautiful herb that sends up tall flower spikes to attract pollinators. Let your basil flower, and in the cool season, let cilantro, dill, and parsley linger so insects can enjoy their flowers, too. There's also chives, lemon balm, and bee balm.
Level three: fill in raised beds with herbs
If you already have raised garden beds, fill in the corner and any bare spots along the edges with herbs. I love to mix upright herbs with draping herbs for visual interest.
Level four: create an herb garden planter
If you're looking to maximize your growing space for herbs, I recommend putting together your very own rollable steel planter. It's an easy project, and once assembled, you'll be able to roll your herb garden around to chase sunlight. My herb planter is 2' x 6', so it's small compared to my raised beds, but you'd be shocked how many herbs I can grow and harvest from this little 12-square-foot bed.
You can find full step-by-step directions to assemble a rolling steel planter inside the Herb Garden Guidebook.
Some of My Favorite Herbs to Grow
Here are some of the herbs I’ve got tucked throughout my garden and why I love growing them.
Rosemary
You can grow a trailing rosemary over the edge of a raised bed or container, or grow an upright rosemary plant—either way, it's sure to smell heavenly. Rosemary makes a great dipping sauce for breads, like this herb garden flatbread.
(Find five tips to grow rosemary here.)
Chives
Chives were what got me hooked on the concept of growing your own fresh food, and they’re a great starter plant. Chive blossoms are both gorgeous and edible, and I like to use them to make chive blossom vinaigrette.
Parsley
There’s Italian parsley, also known as flat leaf parsley, or curly leaf parsley, depending on your preference. I love tossing this herb fresh on dishes, but you can also cut it up, add it to oil, and freeze it to use throughout the winter. Sprinkle some parsley onto your spaghetti for a little pop of green.
(Learn how to harvest parsley the right way to encourage your plant to grow more leaves.)
Lavender
I wish you could smell my lavender through your screen! Once it blooms, you can cut whole sprigs to freshen up your bathrooms.
Chamomile
Part of the Aster family (or the lettuce family), chamomile produces cute little white flowers and releases the most amazing scent of apples in the fall. I dry the flowers to make soothing tea.
Thyme
Like oregano, thyme grows into a little carpet over your beds. I love cutting sprigs of thyme to use when I’m roasting vegetables.
Basil
I always have at least two varieties of basil growing over the summer. There are lots of types for you to choose from, but I recommend Genovese basil and Thai basil, a fun alternative to regular basil that holds up a little better while cooking. It’s super easy to start basil from seed or to root basil cuttings so you can get even more plants to spread throughout your garden.
Master the art of growing your own organic herb garden
Based on Gardenary's introductory gardening online course, Herb Garden Guide, this comprehensive guidebook will lead you through the step by step so that you know exactly how to grow all the culinary herbs you love right in your very own space.
Become that person who passes right by all the expensive and packaged herbs at the grocery store and learn to grow your own instead. You'll learn every step of the process inside this ebook.
Marigold
Did you know that marigold is an herb? It's an extra low-maintenance one at that. Not only are marigold flowers pretty, but I love to make tea with them.
Get Your Herb Garden Started ASAP!
Summer is the time to harvest from your herbs as much as you possibly can. Bring them inside and enjoy them fresh in the kitchen or dry them for the winter—there’s so much you can do with herbs.
So here's to herbs! Let’s all find more spaces to put them in the garden!
Learn how to set up your own herb raised bed planter, plus the ins and outs of planting, tending, and harvesting your own herbs with this popular online course available inside your Gardenary 365 membership. You'll also have access to our complete Gardenary course library, so you can master whatever plants you'd like to grow.