Planting herbs in the backyards proves to be useful as one gets easy access to the necessary plants of everyday use. Culinary herbs add flavor to the food we eat; also there are medicinal herbs which prove to be of great use. Devising plans/layouts to systematically arrange the necessary herbs in gardens also is necessary.
Plans for Herb Gardens
The plans for herb gardens should be chalked out considering various factors that govern the growth of plants (herbs in this case) in a particular region. Ease of maintenance, accessibility and other such points should also be taken into account for the activity of herb gardening. Given below are commonly used herb garden design plans.
Standard Plan for Herb Garden
One of the commonly used plan/design for a herb garden is that of using a layout with geometric shape. This geometric shape should then be divided into parts of equal size. Different herbs need to be planted in these parts. Such type of gardens have to planned outdoors. Arrangements of herbs need to be carried out by taking into account the height; arranging/planting the herbs according to the height helps in maintaining them without much difficulty. Features like walkways can be incorporated in the herb garden design plans to make every part of the garden accessible.
Plan for Container Garden
The basic thing to keep in mind while planning for container herb gardening is that 1 gallon space has to be reserved for each plant. Use of containers is mostly recommended for indoor herb garden plans. It is necessary to provide enough space for healthy growth of these plants. One can think about choosing individual pots for each plant or accommodate several ones in a single, bigger pot. The best part about container gardening is that pots can be placed indoors or outdoors, depending on your choice and ease of maintenance.
Tips for Planning Herb Gardens
Here are few important tips that one should consider while planning a herb garden. The activity of herb gardening for beginners should become a bit easier with the points mentioned below.
- There are different factors to be considered while setting up a herb garden; sunlight is one of them. It is important that plants get 4-6 hours of daily light. For indoor environment, planning has to be done accordingly. Fluorescent lighting is the option to be considered for indoor gardening.
- Accessibility is another factor to be considered while planning a herb garden. Growing plants in close vicinity of the kitchen serves the purpose. Moving the potted plants becomes much easier if these are planted near the kitchen. Culinary garden plans need to be devised taking into account the factor of accessibility.
- The pest infestations that generally occur in a given area/region should be considered in the process of planning. Giving prior thought to such problems helps in reducing the infestations. Prevention is always better than cure.
- Choosing the right herbs for a given place is always recommended. Exotic herbs often require a lot of hard work and care/maintenance on the part of user/gardener. The best herbs to grow indoors from local ones need to be chosen.
- In the process of designing gardens, the activity of adding walkways/path is considered to be of importance. Proper care and maintenance of plants becomes easier by means of these paths. Spacing these walkways at the right distance should therefore, prove to be useful.
