The joy of gardening

An herb garden is a wonderful way to dip your toe into gardening. Most herbs don't require a lot of maintenance to grow well, are beautiful as well as aromatic, and provide you with delicious flavors for your dishes—something most flower gardens can't do.If you've been thinking about putting in an herb garden, here are a few simple steps you need to get started.

Plan where to put it

Most herbs prefer full sun, which means they need to be in a location with no shade for at least 8 hours.Soil is just as important as sunlight. The soil should drain well, but not be too sandy. A good way to check is to take a handful of moist soil and squeeze it in your hand.

If the soil holds together securely like clay and doesn't come apart, it's clay soil. If it breaks apart easily despite being moist, it is sandy soil. If it can be broken but does stay together, somewhere between sandy and clay, you have an ideal mix.

Amend your soil

It's easiest to prepare your bed before there is anything in it. While you can add amendments after the herbs go in, and you probably will over time, it's easier to get amendments thoroughly mixed in with no plants.

While only a lab test can tell you if there are problems with your soil, you can and should add compost to your garden before adding any plants. Compost improves every type of soil. It will help sandy soil not drain so fast, and clay soil not be so heavy. If you already have a rich loam, it will add nutrients to that loam.

Plant after all danger of frost

Some herbs such as basil are sensitive to frost, and will quickly die if they are planted at a bad time.Check your zone and make sure you are planting after the first frost date.

How to plant

While you can start herbs from seeds, many people opt to get potted starts. If you do, loosen the soil below where you plan to plant so that the roots have an easier time growing. Water your plants well after planting, and give them time to recover from the shock of being planted.

Try putting the hose on at a drip and letting it drip on the roots for several hours. While you might think spraying the surface with a hose for 15 minutes is a deep water, the water often only reaches the first inch of soil, which isn't enough to reach most of your plants roots.

Enjoy!

Herb gardens are a wonderful way to start gardening. After your plants have established themselves you can harvest small bits of the plant as needed, or dry large trimmings for later use. There's nothing like your own fresh herbs to season your cooking with.

Many herbs are also bee friendly, and the flowers are edible too! Try decorating your plate with sage flowers or lavender flowers for an aromatic and edible treat