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What is an Herb Garden?

By Sarah E. White
Updated: Feb 29, 2024
Views: 13,228
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An herb garden is simply a place where you plant herbs for personal and culinary use. An herb garden can be an actual garden in the ground, part of a larger culinary or vegetable garden, mixed into a flower bed, or even planted in containers kept inside or on a back deck.

But what is an herb? How are herbs and spices different? Botanists define herbs as plants without woody stems, that is, not trees or shrubs. To a cook, an herb is a plant used for its leaves and stems, as opposed to a spice, which is a flavoring derived from the bark, seeds, or roots of a plant. Parsley is an herb; cinnamon is a spice. Therefore, an herb garden can be defined as a collection of green, non-woody plants used for culinary and medicinal purposes.

There are many different kinds of herbs that can be grown quite easily in an herb garden. The best herbs to choose are those that you frequently cook with or use. For instance, if you love Italian food, you should grow basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage. If you like to drink herbal teas, grow mint and chamomile. Cilantro, chives, and epazote would be great for a Mexican herb garden.

There are many different kinds of herb gardens as well. A container herb garden can involve several herbs planted together in a window box or a collection of individual containers. These may be kept outside on a back deck or patio, or in a sunny kitchen window. A formal herb garden uses large plantings of herbs in geometric designs that are for ornamental purposes as much as for eating. Formal herb gardens are often laid out like a wagon wheel, with a fountain or statue in the middle and different herbs planted in each wedge.

A kitchen garden is a much more unrestrained and useful collection of herbs, named for its traditional location near the back door, close to the kitchen. The kitchen garden might be separate from the larger vegetable garden and could include an herb garden as well as lettuce, onions, and other small plants that could be harvested quickly and easily while cooking. An herb garden is a wonderful addition to any yard, patio, balcony, or fire escape. Even if your herb garden is as small as a couple of containers with a few of your favorite herbs, you will love the versatility of being able to have fresh herbs whenever you want them all season long.

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Discussion Comments
By MsSears — On May 06, 2011

I started growing an herb garden back when I was in college, and have never been without one since. It may sound cliched or advertise-y, but fresh herbs really do make a world of difference when you're cooking. And the good thing is, they are a lot stronger than dried herbs, so you only need a very little bit to pack a punch!

I would definitely recommend anyone with even a window-sill's worth of space to start an herb garden -- your dinner will never be the same.

By KLHChef — On May 03, 2011

@risotto - Mint is the easiest in my experience. It grows like crazy! But it is also invasive, so I recommend growing it in a separate container. Parsley is also easy, but it sprouts slowly. I have found that soaking the seeds in warm water for several hours quickens the growth a bit. Chives are another simple one, especially to grow indoors because they need little light. I hope that helps. Happy Gardening!

By risotto — On May 02, 2011

I love cooking with herbs and think it would be more cost effective to grow them rather than buy them. However, I don't have much of a green thumb. What are the easiest herbs to grow?

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