How to Care for Herbs
Caring for herbs isn't much different from watching out for your other annuals and perennials, but herbs may have a few special requests. Although each type of herb has its own growing requirements, most herbs are unfussy plants. Most prefer full sun. Most prosper in good, moderately fertile soil. And most require that the soil be well-drained so they get the moisture they need to grow but don't suffer from wet feet.
If your site is lacking in any of these requirements, take steps to improve it. Clip back overhanging trees and shrubs. Add organic matter such as compost and/or dampened peat moss, as well as some sand to poor soil to improve its texture.
Herbs rarely need fertilizer! In fact, excess fertilizer may lead to lax, floppy growth that's unattractive and vulnerable to diseases and pests; it may also inhibit flowering.
Some herbs like "sweeter" soil (soil with a higher pH; alkaline soil). If your garden's soil is towards the acidic side, a sprinkling of lime powder or chips at the herb's base at planting time may be in order. Examples of herbs that like this include chia, lavender, and echinacea.
Make sure you water in your herb plants on planting day. Then water the plants often in the following days and weeks until they become well-established. Well-established herbs may be fairly drought-tolerant, but that doesn't excuse you from getting them off to a good start while they're young.
Some herbs prefer soggy ground. The drawback is that if you put them in such a spot, they may grow too rampantly; be willing to let them do as they will. If that's not practical, simply raise them in a pot and keep the pot well-watered and/or set in a saucer of water so the growing mix is perpetually damp. Examples of herbs like this include mints, bee balm, cardamom, chervil, goldenseal, and sorrel.
Herbs are easy and fun to grow inside, which may also extend the harvest for you if you have cold winters. They're best on a kitchen windowsill, provided it gets plenty of sun. That way, they're handy when you need them for a recipe; plus the sight of them certainly adds character and pleasant fragrance to your kitchen.
Here are couple other tips:
Turn herbs occasionally so they're healthier and look fuller/balanced: Potted herb plants naturally grow towards the source of sunlight, and they may start to lean or look one-sided unless you give them a quarter-turn every few days.
Trim or harvest often: Life in a pot is pretty confining for most herbs, and you don't want them to outgrow their space or start getting floppy or lanky. So cut off tips often; this trimming inspires the plant to branch and go grow more densely and compactly.
After a while, the herbs may naturally peter out and need to be replaced. So enjoy them to the fullest while they're in their prime!
Gardening Glossary
annuals
Plants that complete their entire life cycle within one growing season. The plant germinates from seed, grows and blooms, and then produces seed and dies.
Gardening Glossary
biennials
A plant that take two growing seasons to complete its life cycle. It germinates and grows leaves and stems in the first year; produces flowers and fruit (seed) in the second, and then dies.
Gardening Glossary
bolt
When a plant flowers or produces seed prematurely.
Gardening Glossary
cold frame
A wooden or concrete block box in which you can grow plants or hold dormant during the cold winter months.
Gardening Glossary
cole crops
A family of vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. They thrive in cooler weather.
Gardening Glossary
complete fertilizer
Any fertilizer that contains all three of the primary nutrients, N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Phrase is based on regulations governing the fertilizer industry. Does not mean that the fertilizer literally contains everything a plant needs to thrive.
Gardening Glossary
deadheading
The practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers
Gardening Glossary
evaporative-pad humidifier
A humidifier in which fans blow across a moisture-laden pad that sits in a reservoir of water.
Gardening Glossary
harden off
The process of acclimating plants grown indoors gradually to the brighter light and cooler temperatures of the outside world.
Gardening Glossary
hardiness
The ability of a plant to survive is called its hardiness.
Gardening Glossary
humus
A stable end product of organic-matter decomposition that's believed to increase microbial activity in soil, improve soil structure, and enhance the root development of plants.
Gardening Glossary
Bacillus thuringiensis Bt
An effective bacteria that attacks only the larvae of caterpillar family insects. It is safe to other insects, animals, and humans.
Gardening Glossary
macronutrients
Mineral nutrients that plants need in the largest quantities: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
Gardening Glossary
mulch
Organic or inorganic material placed over the surface of soil, usually directly over the root zone of growing plants. Used to conserve moisture, kill weed seedlings, modify soil temperature, provide attractive covering to garden beds.
Gardening Glossary
organic matter
Once-living stuff like compost, sawdust, animal manure, ground bark, grass clippings, and leaf mold (composted tree leaves). Used to enrich soil and improve soil texture.
Gardening Glossary
perennials
Any plant with a life cycle of three or more years. Herbaceous (non-woody) perennials include flowering plants and herbs, mainly. Woody perennials include trees and shrubs. Longevity depends on the plant and growing conditions.
Gardening Glossary
pH
The measure of soil's acidity. Soil with low pH means it's too acidic; soil with high pH means it's alkaline. Most plants grow best in soil with a pH value between 6.5 and 7.2. Neutral soils measure 7.
Gardening Glossary
photosynthesis
The process through which plants take nutrients from the air and from the water in the soil to produce sugars that fuels the plant's growth.
Gardening Glossary
primary nutrients
Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are the three nutrients plants need in the largest quantities.
Gardening Glossary
root crops
Plants with edible underground roots such as onions, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips. Most root crops are cold-weather crops.
Gardening Glossary
self-blanching
A type of cauliflower with leaves that naturally curl over the head and exclude light. Requires cool temperatures for leaves to curl effectively.
Gardening Glossary
sets
Small onion bulbs, about 1/2-inch wide, that were started from seed the previous year. Grow onion sets with the pointy end up.
Gardening Glossary
side-dressing
The act of adding a small amount of fertilizer around or "on the side" of plants after they're growing.
Gardening Glossary
succession planting
Planting small, 2-to-4-foot patches of plants every two weeks throughout the growing season so that you can harvest a crop over an extended period of time.
Gardening Glossary
thinning
The act of cutting the least robust seedlings in your garden to give the healthier plants more room to grow.
Gardening Glossary
vining crops
Crops that grow on vines, such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and winter squash. They usually require support (staking, trellising, etc.) to keep them off the ground.
