How to Plant a Container Herb Garden

Container gardening is so easy!

I’m sharing tips and tricks to grow your own container herb garden! Everything from the 10 best herbs to grow, ideas for containers, and tips for sun, watering, fertilizing and harvesting! Let’s get gardening.

10 Herbs to Grow in Containers:

Herbs are so easy to grow. You can either grow them from seed, or buy annuals to place right into your garden. Here are 10 herbs that I love, which are easy to grown and perfect in cooking!

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Parsley
• Chives
• Sage
• Oregano
• Basil
• Mint (Mojito mint, peppermint, spearmint)
• Cilantro
• Lavender

Grow a variety of herbs!

In my container herb garden, I like to plant a variety of herbs in all different kinds of containers. I’ll fill a wash tub with rosemary, thyme, oregano, mint, sage and pansies. The more the merrier.

Herb Garden Container Ideas and Tips:

One of the most fun things about growing herbs in containers is how creative you can be with the containers! Think outside the box and plant them in wooden boxes, wooden wine boxes, old tin cans, antique stoneware pickle pots, old metal wash tubs, plastic lined burlap bags…anything you like can be a container! Although, I do try to avoid terra cotta pots because they dry out quickly.

• Make sure that the containers you choose offer enough room for the herb roots to stretch out and grow.
• Make sure your containers have good drainage. I will drill drainage holes into the bottoms of old boxes and tin tubs, to ensure that water can drain easily.
• Companion planting tip! Herbs and pansies grow really well together and make a really pretty planter! I love planters that are functional and beautiful.

Tips for Growing Herbs in Containers:

For abundant and gorgeous herbs, here are some growing tips!

Use a good quality potting soil.

Use a quality potting soil that provides optimum aeration, drainage and nutrients. I prefer to use premium potting soil mixes in my containers. Potting mixes are less dense and provide more aeration than regular garden soil.

Make sure to water regularly!

Generally, herbs prefer well drained soil. Don’t let your herbs dry out, but also be careful not to overwater them…too much water can create rot. I use a watering can to water and fertilize all of my potted plants. I find that the stream of water is the most gentle way to water my plants without damaging them.

Fertilize!

I use a vegetable fertilizer that I mix into water to feed my herbs. The rule of thumb that I go by for fertilizing my herbs, is to feed them once every 2 weeks. Fertilizing tip! Make sure to feed the soil, not the herb foliage!  You want the nutrients to go into the soil.

Place your herbs in full sun.

Most herbs require full sun to thrive…the general rule for herbs is 6-8 hours of sunlight a day. However, there are some herbs that will still do well in partial shade, so if your garden isn’t in full sun, don’t fret, just look for herbs that thrive in partial shade…herbs such as chives, cilantro, oregano, parsley, mint and thyme, these will do well with less sun.

Pick Pick Pick! Frequent harvesting encourages growth.

Herbs are meant to be used, so don’t be afraid to harvest and use them! Consistent harvesting will lead to full, thriving herb plants. When harvesting herbs, trim from the outside in. The important thing to remember with herbs, is to make sure to snip off any flowers that appear…you don’t want your herb plants putting energy into growing flowers, you want them to put their energy into growing the leaves you want to harvest. Tip!  If you get flowers, you can eat them!

Deadhead!

Don’t leave dead leaves on your plants, trim them off so you get new growth.

Happy gardening!