As a culinary developer and avid home chef, I learned the importance of having a dependable, accessible outdoor herb garden in the kitchen. However, living in a modern age where there are just about as many choices for indoor herb gardens as there are for outdoor herb gardens has also prompted me to want to know how to design and develop an outdoor herb garden on my patio or balcony. I realized that even though my family was used to having fresh herbs in their kitchens, we had never really considered designing and creating an outdoor garden of our own. What’s great about the outdoor herb garden design and the gardening trend is that it gives you the ability to be as creative as possible with your design. You can incorporate your favorite herbs into a beautiful outdoor centerpiece or use the garden as another practical storage space for your cookware and other items.
Outdoor Herb Garden Design
As you begin researching the various outdoor herb garden design ideas that are available, you will likely be overwhelmed by all of the herb varieties, colors, textures, and shapes that you can use to build your dream garden. One of my favorite outdoor herb garden design ideas is to have stones built up in the middle of the garden to act as barriers to prevent weeds from growing. I find this idea to be especially effective when I am growing herbs that have a hardy habit of growing up and over the barriers in the soil. Another idea that I like is to use decorative fencing along the perimeter of my garden, which connects the different areas. This makes it easier to maintain the different areas within the fencing.
Benefits
One of the key benefits of using the herbs garden as a place to grow herbs is that you get fresh herbs all season long. This enables you to season the same items in your meals more often and saves you money by buying fresh herbs for your meals instead of buying canned goods. The space that you have to dedicate to an herb garden also helps you to use the area on a regular basis and allows you to grow a larger variety of herbs than you could if you chose not to have an herb garden at all. Not only do you get a continuous supply of fresh herbs, but you get a continuous supply of clean air as well.
When designing your outdoor herb garden, you will want to choose containers that are large and sturdy so that your herbs will thrive. However, there is an option that allows you to grow herbs in a smaller container. The vertical herb garden is a great way to grow herbs in small spaces because you can grow them up higher than the ground. You will also get a continuous supply of fresh herbs because the only limitation is your imagination. Here are some additional thoughts that I had while designing my vertical herb garden:
Things To Consider
The number one thing that I found to be limiting was the size of the pots that I was choosing to use. The problem with growing herbs in small pots is that it is very hard to take the plant from the bottom of the pot to the top without removing the roots. This causes the plant to stop growing altogether. I also did not like the idea of being able to see my herbs as I did not want to be picking off the small herbs before they have had a chance to grow. Luckily, I discovered that I could grow three different types of herbs in a small container garden using only two pots.
I started out using six-foot-tall planters that were filled with soil. The reason for doing this was to create enough room so that I could grow three different types of herbs in a vertical herb garden using only two pots. I was able to move the pots around easily so that I can move the pots to different areas in the garden and keep the three levels of herbs consistent.
You can also create your own DIY planters if you want. I used grapevines that were tied down with organic rope to create a makeshift fence to keep the herbs out. You can also use netting, plastic pallets, or any other type of material that will keep most of the sunlight out. This will make sure that your garden will stay healthy year-round and not be subject to sudden changes in temperature that can affect the growth of your herbs.
Bottom Line
As I mentioned, these are just a few outdoor herb garden design ideas. It is really up to you how you want to build your design. It really does not matter which way you go because you are going to end up with something that looks amazing. Just make sure that you have all of your pots in place before you start planting. Your garden will not look as good as it would if you did not prepare.
