Planning An Herb Garden
Using Simple Themes

When planning an herb garden start with a simple theme first. If you’re new to herb gardening or even if you’re an established gardener. It’s easier to start with one theme and then others will follow when you’re ready to do more.

Things to consider when planning an herb garden is your layout.

Do you want it to be formal or informal? Do you want the shape to be round, hexagon, diamond or rectangular. Then consider what textured plants and aromatic fragrances you would love to smell or see for your outdoor herb garden?

Then select the type of theme you want your herb garden to be.

Aromatherapy
Attracting Honey Bees
Biblical
Children’s
Craft
Culinary
Herb tea
Italian
Medicinal
Moonlit

When growing an aromatherapy herb garden it is essentially grown for its volatile oils. Some of the most popular and useful herbs to grow for extraction of essential oils are basil, benzoin, bergamot, black pepper, camphor, cedarwood, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, coriander, cypress, eucalyptus, fennel, frankincense, geranium (pelargonium), ginger, hyssop, jasmine, juniper, lavender, lemon, lemon grass, marjoram (sweet), Melissa, myrrh, neroli, niaouli, patchouli, peppermint, pine, rose, rosemary, sage, sandalwood, tea tree, thyme, and ylang-ylang.

Attracting honey bees can be fun, not only are you rewarded with honey, if that’s why you planted one, but your herbs will definitely have more flowers, fruits, and seeds. Plant it in full sun in groups of five or more. A few good herbs to plant in order of flowering are – forget-me-not, rosemary, catmint, borage, winter and summer savory, thymes, catnip, alliums, chamomile, hyssop, sage, fennel, valerian, verbena, basil, calendula, mallow, marjoram, mints and sunflowers.

A biblical herb garden includes herbs like grape, milk thistle, rue, spikenard, tansy, and wormwood to name few. When planning an herb garden consider where to place a bench, bird bath, water fountain, or other tranquil features to help focus on prayer or meditation.

Bumble bee hard at work

Planning an Herb Garden Themes...

For a children’s herb garden you will benefit from keeping it simple and planting items that are fragrant, edible, and that have brilliant, bright colors. A few to consider are lavender, lawn daisies, sunflowers, creeping thyme, lemon balm, borage, mints, parsley, and sweet cicely.

A craft herb garden is one I’m going to be planting this year. This garden includes herbs like roses, lavender, elderberry, elderberry recipes, hyssop, mints, chamomile, feverfew, wormwood, chervil, forget-me-not, honeysuckle or violets to name a few. It depends what type of craft you're making. Then adjust your herb garden to your creative ideas!

A culinary herb garden includes some of the best herbs grown for cooking and are used fresh. These includes herbs like basil, chervil, chives, calendula, coriander, dill, Florence fennel, French tarragon, marjoram, oregano, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, sorrel, and thyme.

An herb tea garden is a delightful way to make your own teas. Yum, I’m drinking tea as I write this page. Anyways, some great herbs to grow for teas are chicory, cinnamon, dandelion, ginger, green tea, lemon balm, lemon grass, mint, roses for the hips, sage, thyme, and many more. It’s the blending of the herb plants medicine that makes it special.

Calming Lavender green tea

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More Herb Garden Themes...

An Italian herb garden includes Mediterranean area plants that are grown today in Italy. Consider these herbs when you're planning an herb garden like Italian cress, everlasting, fennel, lavender, licorice, lovage and parsley.

A medicinal herb garden can have hundreds of herbs growing in it. But it’s a good idea to concentrate on a few at first and plan space to add more later on. There’s only so much time in a season to plant and harvest. Grow herbs for colds, coughs, fever reducers, digestion, heart, and more and then learn how to use these herbs by taking herbal classes.

A beautiful moonlit herb garden with its white, silver, and gray fluorescent colors seem magical and enchanting with the light of the full moon. Some moonlight plants to grow are sweet rocket for the perfume at night, forget-me-nots, thymes, sweet cicely, rosemary, evening primrose, a cherry, plum, or pear tree for light reflection and fragrance. Add some white stepping stones, bird baths, and a bench for an enchanted night.

Sweet Cicley has sweet leaves that first are dried and later ground up to add to coffee or tea.

Sweet Cicley has sweet leaves for coffee or tea.

The more you learn and use herbs in either cooking, medicinal, aromatic, cleaning your home, bath products, crafting and on and on you might surprise yourself. You might want to plant a couple of herb themed gardens. Just take the time in planning an herb garden in the beginning. Then savor how some simple plants can touch your life and the lives around you.

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