Planting A Culinary Herb Pot

It's so wonderful to be able to clip fresh herbs from your backyard garden, but the nice thing is that you don't have to have a big backyard to grow fresh herbs.  All you need is enough room for either several small pots, or one big pot to grow several different kinds of your favorite culinary herbs.

Here are several small clay pots that have herbs planted in them, just make sure you water them everyday in the hot summer weather.

Here are several Thyme plants that have been trimmed into fragrant topiary, I  just love these :)

1- 12-16 inch planter with drainage holes

Potting Soil enriched with organic plant food

3-4 four inch pots of your Favorite Culinary Herbs

I used Spearmint, Chives, and Upright Rosemary

Rocks or Pebbles for the bottom of your pot

Mulch

Start with a Clean pot, I washed mine with a mild dish soap. You don't want to transfer any bacteria or disease from whatever was planted in the pot beforehand  

Since I used a lightweight (not clay) pot. I wanted to stabilize the pot and give it some extra weight. I placed 2 inches of rocks at the bottom.  If you have a heavy pot, you will only need to use 1 inch of rocks or pebbles.

Fill the remainder of the pot with your potting soil, leaving 3-4 inches at the top. Push the soil down as you fill to avoid any air bubbles.

 

Plant the herbs in your pot. You may want to include a Marigold, to ward off bugs naturally, or you can include pansies since they are edible and make a beautiful garnish. Make sure to tuck them tightly into the soil, so the roots make good contact with the soil.

Mulch ( I used cedar mulch because it's a natural pest repellent) and water. Your Herbs may need a few days to perk up and get used to their new home, don't panic if they look a little sad at first.

Before you know it, your herbs will be full and lush. After about one month you may want to start feeding your herbs every other week with an organic fertilizer. You need to remember that when you garden in a pot, you  need to feed more often than when you grow in the ground.  Enjoy your herbs, for cooking, garnishes or even making herbal vinegar and oils.  You'll be so glad you took a little time for something that brings you so much joy :)