Home & Garden Gardening

How to Grow a Herb Garden

Herbs are the lifeline of any kitchen.
Without them, dishes would end up be bland and unattractive.
In addition, many gardeners use herbs for the medicinal value as well as for their aromatic properties to ease stress and strain.
Here are some tips on how to grow an herb garden.
If your garden has fertile and rich soil, then you are very lucky.
However, most gardens do not have the type of soil required to grow herbs.
Therefore, spend some time to prepare the soil so that it becomes more conducive to herb growing.
Add a complete fertilizer to the soil while taking care that you do not over fertilize it.
One of the best ways to fertilize soil naturally is using compost made up of garden and kitchen waste.
This way you will save money and will not have to invest in soil conditioner and fertilizer.
In addition, compost also improves the moisture holding capacity of the soil.
Remember, when adding garden waste to your compost heap, do not add diseased plants or plants that have been treated with herbicides.
Now that your soil is prepared, you can start planting your herbs.
You can plant herbs like parsley, dill and fennel.
In fact, these are known to attract a type of butterfly known as swallowtail, which many gardeners find very beautiful.
You can also plant perennials like bee balm, or annuals like basil.
The best part about herbs is that they do not require that much caring and nurturing to grow.
You can grow them in containers or in beds in the garden.
When growing in the garden, they are usually laid out in a formal arrangement.
However, other than aggressively growing herbs like mint, you can plant most others along with your vegetables.
The flavors are at a peak just before they bloom, but you can harvest the herbs right through the growing season.
In case you want to preserve the herbs for future use, you can do so by using the hang drying method.
Another method of preservation is freezing the herbs.
Find out which herbs can be preserved, and which should be used fresh.
This way you will always have some or the other herb to flavor your dishes.
Some other tips for growing herbs is ensuring they get around 6 hours of sunlight, make sure you water them regularly or as and when required, and finally, plant herbs based on the season for optimum growth.

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