Perhaps surprisingly, the very first step in the creation of a home herb garden is not to design the look and feel of it but to ask yourself why it is that you want to have your own home herb garden.
The purpose of asking why is so that you can come up with a list of all the benefits that you want to receive from your home herb garden. When you have that list of benefits then you can look for the herb plants that can provide those benefits. And when you have written down that list of relevant benefits producing herb plants, then and only then can you proceed with deciding which of those herb plants you have chosen to include in your list of initial plants to grow in your home herb garden.
Generally, the herb plants in your home herb garden are of 3 main categories; annuals, perennials and biennials.
Annuals cannot live through the frost and they die off each year. If you want them again you will have to replant them the following year.
2. Perennials will live through winter to grow again the following year
3. Biennials will spend its first season in growing strong and producing only leaves. It is in the second season that it produces flowers and seeds after which it dies.
I list below a popular choice of each of the above categories of herb plants for your consideration. They include:
Basil is an amazing culinary herb that is a favourite addition to Italian, Indian, Thai and Chinese cuisine. Generally easy to grow even though it is sensitive to frost. It likes to be in the sunniest spot in your home herb garden where the soil is moist. As it is generally easy to grow it makes a good choice for the new home herb garden adventurer.
If you wish, it is small enough to sit on the windowsill but outdoors it is a great companion plant for peppers and tomatoes by improving their flavour. It makes a mean fly and mosquito repellent and medicinally, basil tea is effective for calming upset tummies and aids in digestive and gas ailments. It is also often used for relieving vomiting, constipation and stomach cramps.
If you want an annual in your home herb garden then basil is an altogether more than worthy candidate.
I have chosen chives as my example of a well-liked and useful perennial for your home herb garden. Although it likes the full sun, it does best in early spring when the weather is cooler. Its pretty flowers, white or purple, make it a well-liked addition to a flower arrangement.
Chives are of the onion and garlic family and are usually used fresh in salads and soups. Chives are also used in meat dishes.
Being a member of the onion family also means that its use is beneficial for high blood pressure although, because of it size, you would need to consume a lot of it to for it to be effective.
My pick of a suitable biennial herb plant for your home herb garden is the Evening Primrose. It is so easy to grow that it would be an encouragement to include it in your home herb garden. As it can grow to eight feet high it is best for growing at the back of the plot. It also loves full sunlight although it can still thrive in a little shade.
It has attractive yellow flowers that give off a lovely fragrance with a hint of lemon. Its flowers open in the evenings and close in the mornings, and attract bees and butterflies.
The whole plant is edible and it would be healthy to make it a regular part of your meals. This is borne out by the fact that evening primrose capsules are a well-accepted part of a woman's supplementary vitamins.
Its roasted seeds are often used for baking seeded bread.
Why not just make a start at your home herb garden with these three plants and see if you like it.
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Shad Alan is an herb gardening enthusiast and owner of the Herb Gardening Site. For more great tips on home herb garden and starting a herb gardening project, visit www.HerbGardeningSite.com the one-stop resource for herb gardening enthusiasts
Excellent information with detail. The primrose - must look into that one. You know these plants well and have given a lot of very good information in a "right on target" article. Thank you.
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