How to Start an Herb Garden
Article by Pat McTigue
Some people may think it’s difficult to start an herb garden but, in fact, it’s really quite easy. Herb gardens are actually a great way for those who are interested in gardening to get started because it is really much easier than growing other plants, such as roses or citrus trees.
Starting an herb garden is easy. It doesn’t require much room, since most herb plants can be grown in small pots. Even if you live in a small apartment with no yard, growing an herb garden is possible since you can even grow them inside. If you have a small area outdoors but nowhere to cultivate plants such as on a patio, that’s ok too. Herb gardens are really quite flexible, which is another thing that makes them easy for gardening beginners.
It’s easy to start herb garden plants. You can start herb garden plants two ways. The first, and probably the most common way to start herb garden plants, is from seed. Seeds are inexpensive and you can start your seeds in egg cartons. Once your seeds are ready to be transplanted to a bigger pot, or into the ground, you can just cut apart the egg carton and plant them since cardboard egg cartons are completely biodegradable. If you have kids, this is often the way that they learn about how plants grow when they are in school. They will plant seeds in egg cartons, water them and watch them grow. Then they get to bring them home, and rather ironically, that’s usually right around mother’s day.
The other way you can start herb garden plants is from live seedlings. You can buy small herb plants from the garden center and plant them in pots that allow them plenty of room to spread out. You can control the size of the plant by controlling the size of the pot.
When you start herb garden plants, it’s important to know what type of garden you will have. If you are going to have an outdoor garden, will it be a container garden with your herbs in unique pots or will it be an in ground garden with raised beds? If you don’t have the room for an outdoor garden and you’d like to start herb garden plants inside, you’ll need to know where you’ll put your garden in a location where they get the light that they need.
If you are going to start herb garden plants indoors and you don’t have a space near a window, don’t worry. You can still start herb garden plants in your kitchen even if it has no windows. All you need to do is buy a fluorescent light bulb. Fluorescent light bulbs provide a light similar to sunlight so plants get the light that they need, even without windows. This is exactly what those expensive, fancy indoor garden machines do, but for a much lower cost.
Growing an herb garden is simple, inexpensive and rewarding. You can use herbs in a wide variety of ways, from cooking to making perfumes to natural medicine and teas. Give it a try and see if you don’t agree.
About the Author
Pat McTigue is an herb garden enthusiast. For great information on how to start an herb garden, visit http://topherbgardensecrets.com/.
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