Herbs have been grown and used for centuries for medicines, spices, food preparation, and for decoration such as wreaths or potpurri. Keeping a herb garden is not so difficult as herbs tend to be hardy plants and require only minimal amounts of sunlight, moisture, drainage, and fertilizer.
In using and enjoying your herbs, it is very important to have a good herb garden layout planned. Many factors come into play when planning your herb garden layout, including the space available and requirements for sunlight, drainage, and soil fertility.
Depending on the space you have available to you, different garden layout designs can be incorporated. You can choose a four square garden, bordered with brick or stone, with a brick path that crosses through the midpoint. Or you can try a ladder type of herb garden layout where your plants can be placed between the rungs of a wooden ladder. There is also the wagon wheel design, using bricks or stones to form the "spokes" of the wheel, radiating from a center point. Herb plants are then planted in the wedged segments between the spokes. Many people enjoy a triangular shaped herb garden layout as well.
When planning the layout of your herb garden, there are some design elements to be kept in mind. Plants should be organized depending on their sunlight requirements. For example, while herbs such as lemon balm may require full shade, bay leaf and fennel require only partial shade. Trying to pair together herbs with such different sunlight requirements would be counterproductive. Perennials and biennials such as mint and garlic should be separated from annuals so they are left alone and undisturbed. These plants can be grown around the outer edges of your garden. Tall plants should be kept in one are of the garden so as not to block the shade needed by smaller plants. Tall plants can be kept in the center or back of your herb garden.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of planning your herb garden layout is to place plants close to each other that have similar growing requirements. A shade loving plant placed in a sunny spot will naturally not grow well. Make sure you research the maximum size your fully matured herb plants will reach so you can plan where best to place tall, medium, and short plants in proximity to each other. Tall plants, for instance, should be planted in the back of the garden while shorter plants should be placed more toward the front so they can be seen. The English cottage style of garden is particularly well suited for herb gardening. This style is able to grow herbs in a minimum amount of space and uses height, volume, and even vertical space to make a visual impact to the viewer.
Planning a Formal Herb Garden
Formal herb gardens are generally composed of a series of beds that, though not necessarily identical, create a balanced, symmetrical appearance. The herbs can be arranged in rows by height, color of their foliage, and herb type. Wide walkways between the herb beds are a feature typical of formal herb gardens that give a sense of spaciousness. Formal gardens of the sixteenth century were of a "knot" design. The knot style of formal garden arranges the plants in intricate, geometric designs, within either a square or rectangle. Low growing hedges such as lavender and boxwood were often used to create these intricate designs. For a herbal version of the knot garden style, choose herbs that are compact, low growing, and easily managed. Some good herbs to choose that fit this category include thyme, germander, rue, hyssop, rosemary, and santolina. Invasive, fast growing herbs such as mint should be avoided. An important and stylistic addition to any formal herb garden would be to include statuary, topiaries, and herb planters to enhance the formality of your garden.
Or you may prefer to stick to a single color theme for your garden. A color-theme such as gray-green would include horehound, lavender, artemesia, and wormwood. A scented garden theme could include such similarly scented herbs as mint, scented geranium, lemon balm, silver thyme, and rosemary. Or perhaps your theme might be different varieties of the same herb - such as common sage, tricolor sage, golden sage, purple sage, clary sage, and pineapple sage. Just use your imagination and the possibilities are limitless!