Step Guide In Doing Several Herb Gardens In A Landscape

A step by step guide for several herb gardens in one landscape area. Learn simple ways to create beds and plant a variety of herbs. There are all different size herb gardens today. From a container garden to a full detailed landscape area with walkways, and other outdoor features.

Several years ago I did a landscape project on planting several herb gardens on one large landscape area. The land was situated in an area on the right side of the house. The property line met with the road. The main focus was to create five different herbal gardens with a variety of annual and perennial plants. Natural walkways were created to connect each bed.

This landscape article is geared toward someone with a good size area of land. Thinking about doing a container garden, take a look at Possible herbal garden in a container garden project. The container garden is great for apartment living or a small space. Lets walk step by step on how to create your own complete herbal garden.

1. In this particular landscape project, the entire area needed to be cleared. Renting a bob cat and tractor is a good idea. There weren't any big trees but a lot of brush and small scrub trees to take out. If you have some large trees you have the option to keep them and put a little extra variety of herbs that can take some shade. This area had full sun which most herb plants thrive on. There were about eleven very small pine trees that were transplanted up near the road. Over the years the pines have grown and have created a wonderful privacy shield from the road.
2. An important thing now is to make sure you get the ground leveled. If you don't rent a bob cat or tractor, use a tiller to work the ground and loosen the soil. It is essential to remember how critical the prep part is for any landscape garden area.
3. Once you have worked the entire area, the next step for you to think about is laying out the beds and pathways. You can use garden hoses to design some different size beds. I went a little more simplistic and drew in the dirt what shape each bed would be. I added black edging and began shaping each individual garden. Play around with different shapes. Designing within a design gives you the basis on different patterns in landscape gardens.
   
   Do the beds first as you will be able to connect your walkways a lot easier after you visually see the beds in place. Make sure you over work the soil as it will be a lot healthier for the herbs. I ran the tiller around each bed several times as the soil is very much a red clay base. Even if you live in an area with a sand base soil, the ground should be worked well.
4. Step three involves outlining the beds. You can use black edging. Other options are decorative stone or rock, brick, miniature fencing, or digging around the border of the bed with a larger trench line. You can put the black edging in now, but if you are doing the other options, wait until your bed is planted as those type of borders are one of the last steps in the process. You can also spray paint your beds and that will help you keep a visual. I put a big kidney shape bed in the center of the area and made that the main focal point. Behind the kidney were three good round size beds.
5. Once you have the beds completely, it is time to plant. Here is a tip for you. Keep your annual and perennial herbs separate. Do a few beds of annuals and alternate them with perennials. This works well when the annuals dies out. You won't have to worry about half of the bed coming up next year and half of it not. One option for you is to plant a couple of small evergreen shrubs in the annual beds so you won't have dead spaces.
   
   There are a lot of herbs that are evergreen. This will help also in decreasing the amount of dead space in the entire gardens. Planting your herbs is like any other plant. Put mushroom compost down throughout each garden and work it into the soil before planting. The mushroom compost is good up to a year, and a wonderful organic fertilizer for all herbs.
6. An important step is to plant first and get your beds completed before putting the pathways down. Once the plants are in place finish the beds with mulch or pine straw. Add the border of your choice. The reason you don't put pathways down first is the rocks or stone will get dirty from where you are planting. I used small query stones for this particular project. Consider also doing steps in creating walkways without using cement. Put down a layer of landscape fabric along your pathways as this will help hold down the weeds. You can also put landscape fabric in your beds to help weed control. There will always be weeds and a garden is never 100 percent weed free.
   
   Take the measures now when doing a project to decrease the chance of your beds becoming over populated with those nasty weeds. For this area I used 11 tons of stones. It was done by hand. This can be time consuming but worth it in the end. Put the stone or decorative rocks at least two inches thick. Of course you can hire a contractor or landscaper to help you out.
7. Once the stone or pathways are done, the final step is to add your favorite figurines or outdoor features. Take a look at A Complete Herbal Backyard Landscape Garden Design and see the actual design and descriptions of each annual and perennial herb.
   
   Consider putting a sun dial along as a focal point in one of your pathways. Add a bench, a few bird feeders and baths, and even add a series of natural rocks. A fountain brings a soothing tranquil mood to the gardens. Creating just a few of these items will give you the final touches.

This is the basic step by step guide when considering doing several herb gardens in a single landscape area. This was my first major landscape project and didn't create it on paper. I worked through the entire process creating as I went along. One of the reason I put it into a design is so you can actually get the visual and see the colors of each individual herb garden.

There are more and more people wanting herb gardens due to the beauty of so many different herbs. Check out the spices and herb section for a variety of different plants to use. I hope this has enlighten you some on the simple steps in doing multiple herb gardens somewhere in your yard. Take a look at some of the other landscape articles and read about different ideas for your garden or landscape.