The Edible Herb Garden. Rosalind Creasy
use many different techniques to create the feeling of formality. Here are a few tips for planning your own garden.
• Create formal gardens using geometric shapes—not free-form lines.
• Use small hedges, traditionally boxwood, dwarf English lavender, or germander, to outline the beds and sometimes the perimeter.
• Clipped hedges and herbs or topi-aries give a decidedly formal feeling to a garden.
• When you use the same plant many times (especially when you repeat them in the same location in all the geometric beds), it tightens the design and makes a garden feel more formal.
• Line paths of formal gardens with paving, gravel, or lawn grasses, not straw or compost.
• Formal gardens usually include a focal point or two to interest the eye. Place these in the middle of the garden, on the four corners, or in the middle of each geometric bed. Focal points can be plants in containers, birdbaths, statuary, or very showy plants such as tree roses or herbs with unusual foliage.
Bisecting paths (above right) cut across the sides of this formal herb garden. A round bed is cut out of the center and a focal point container is placed in the center. A small hedge borders the beds and yellow flowers are used at each inside corner to add interest. The second design (bottom right) is also geometric. Here a square bed is cut in the middle and given a fancy plant for a focal point. Repetitive plants have been used on the corners and the garden has been fenced to give it a sense of enclosure.
This lovely formal herb garden is at the Minneapolis Arboretum. Many cities have public herb gardens and they are a rewarding way to see how different herbs perform in your climate. The boxwood hedges, brick walk and edgings, and the geometric shapes of the beds give a sense of formality. Container plants are used as focal points. Here they contain rosemary and sweet bay, two plants that will not winter over in harsh winters, but that can be brought inside to a sun room or greenhouse. The arbors and trellises create outdoor rooms and give a feeling of enclosure to this garden. A similar effect can be used in the home garden to frame an herb garden, but the dimensions of the structures should be smaller and more in keeping with the intimacy of a home garden.
This informal Texas herb garden belongs to Lucinda Hutson, author of many herb books. The terra-cotta statue gives it a regional identity, as does the informal bench in the background. Both act as focal points and unify the design. Rosemary, oregano, society garlic, and arugula that has gone to flower spill out of the beds with abandon.
I designed this hillside herb garden with creeping thyme around the paving stones, and yarrows, rosemary, lavenders, and society garlic around the paths. More culinary herbs follow down the hill and include sages, fennel, and chives. The deer on the property have the consideration to leave them all alone.
I designed a small crescent-shaped bed (above) with thyme, Oriental and garden chives, society garlic, and variegated oregano to be the focal point for my vegetable garden. Within six months it had filled in (below) and made a graceful entrance to the garden.
My magic circle herb garden was made with eighteen, slightly tapered, three-foot-long wooden boards in a circle around a birdbath. I chose blue star creeper for the ground cover to fill in between the boards, and for color, nonedible foxgloves with their pink spires. It includes many varieties of thyme, chives, scented geraniums, cilantro, arugula, tarragon, lavenders, and sages.
herbs in containers
Iplant many herbs in my garden, but I've noticed that nowadays I'm growing an increasing number in containers—herbs on the patio are oh-so-handy to the kitchen, and, further, using herbs in containers gives me a range of design options. I liken it to hanging pictures in a room—spotting containers around my garden adds interest. If I feel like bright primary colors, I bring out my enamel containers; if I want a cottage-garden effect, I use my aged terra-cotta favorites.
Growing herbs in containers is also valuable for gardeners with small yards and for people forced to grow edibles in containers because their soil is infested with nematodes or root rots. In addition, as containers can be brought inside, in harsh-winter areas container growing may be the best way to grow tender perennials like rosemary and sweet marjoram.
How to Grow Herbs in Containers
After years of trial and error, I've found five secrets for success with growing herbs in containers:
1. I use only soil mixes formulated for containers. I've found that garden soil drains poorly and pulls away from the sides of the container, allowing most of the water to run out, and it is often filled with weed seeds.
2. Since containers must have drainage holes in the bottom to prevent the plant from drowning, at planting time I cover the holes with a piece of window screening or small square of weed cloth to keep dirt in and slugs out. (New evidence indicates that gravel or pottery shards in the bottom actually interfere with drainage.)
3. In hot weather, I now use only large containers, those large enough to provide generously for the plant's root system and hold enough soil so that the plant needs to be watered less often. I find that a small number of the small herbs like chives and thyme will grow in twelve-inch containers, but most grow best in large containers (eighteen inches or more in diameter). My Southern friends report that in their climate large containers are mandatory, as the roots on the south side of small pots bake in the hot sun.
4. After years of pale plants, I find I need to fertilize frequently and evenly. For me, biweekly doses of fish emulsion work well, as do granulated fish meal and slow-release fertilizer granules renewed every six weeks or so.
5. I find the most difficult aspect of container growing is to maintain the correct moisture in the soil. Succulent herbs like basil and chervil suffer when not watered enough; on the other hand, the Mediterranean drought-tolerant herbs succumb to root rot if given too much water, especially the sages. Once I learned how to water properly, I was on the road to success.
All gardeners need to learn to water container plants properly; even in rainy climates, hand-watering containers is usually a necessity, as little rain penetrates the umbrella of foliage covering a pot. I find that when I hand water, it is most helpful to water the container twice. The first time premoistens the soil (I think of it as moistening a dry sponge), and the second watering is when I feel as though I am actually watering the soil. The opposite of underwatering is overwatering. To prevent this, I test the soil-moisture content with my finger before watering.
Herbs make handsome container plants. They are compact, have a lovely range of foliage colors and textures, and most bloom at least once a year. Here the foliage of a purple sage contrasts with yellow and orange nasturtium flowers, and the spiky texture of the chives sets off the rounded nasturtium leaves.
Watering container-grown herbs is critical for all gardeners, but it's of even greater importance for those of us who live in arid climates.