How to Grow Herbs

By Catnipp, eHow Editor

I Did This Rate: (2 Ratings)

One of the best ways to add herbs to any of your recipes is to use herbs fresh from your garden. When you know how to grow herbs you can easily accomplish this. It does not take a lot of effort or even a lot of space to grow herbs, if you know how to do it. You can always have fresh herbs on hand for all of your creations, once you start growing them. Read the following steps to find out how to grow herbs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Herb Plants or Seeds
Soil
Containers or Site for Herbs
Water
Fertilizer/Compost
Mulch
Pen and Paper

Step1

Decide on your planting location. It depends on where you live as to where and what you can actually grow when it comes to herbs. You may want to use a specific outdoor site (garden) or you can utilize containers for your herbs to make them easily movable when bad weather arrives. Select an area to make use of or purchase multiple containers to grow your herbs in.

Step2

Choose the herbs carefully. You must also figure out what particular herbs you want to grow and what conditions each one requires. Select several different types of herbs that you are interested in and do your research on them. You can find a lot of information online by doing searches, at your local nurseries, at libraries or by asking other herb gardeners in your area. Find out and make notes of all of the herbs you are thinking about growing. Things to write about them include, but are not limited to: are they annual or perennial? Do they need sun or shade? Are there certain soil conditions they require? Do they need a lot or a little water and do they need to be controlled to avoid over planting? Once you have narrowed down your search and made a decision on which herbs to grow, purchase your herb seeds or plants.

Step3

Plant your herbs. It is a great idea to use containers to grow your herbs so you can easily control the climate in which they grow, but you can also be very successful with an outdoor herb garden. The main thing to keep in mind is to give your herbs the best possible growing conditions and this starts with the location of the herbs and the soil used. Do not try to grow sun-loving herbs in the shade or grow overbearing ones next to delicate ones. Separate your herbs and plant them accordingly, once the soil has been properly prepared.

Step4

Care for your herbs regularly. After you have planted your herbs you still need to take care of them. It is a good idea to add fertilizer or compost to the herbs as needed. You can use also use mulch to not only retain the moisture in the soil for the herbs, but to also help in the prevention of weeds. Make certain you always water the herbs as required.