Mini Herb Garden

Here is a special idea for those with a small garden a yard, or just a sunny windowsill. It is to plant your favourite herbs in long planters that fit into small or thin spaces.

You first of all need

• One or two long planters about 60 centimetres longs and about 15 centimetres in width.
• Enough soil to fill these planters, but leave some out as you will be putting plants in that will take up space.
• Ask your family what favourite herbs they like to eat, cook with or smell. 
• Common herbs include Mint, Parsley, Basil and Rosemary.
• Arrange to go to a garden centre, or supermarket; both of these places will sell herb plants at good prices.
• Choose the healthiest plants with the greenest leaves and most new growth (new leaves and stems)
• Look how big the herbs plant pots are, then look at the planters. Make holes in the soil big enough for your new plants to fit. 
• In a 60 centimetre planter use 20 centimetres for each plant.
• Measure 20 centimetres on the planter and make a mark with a stick in the soil. Start from the other end and do the same so you have 3 twenty centimetre sections.
• This is so you that have one for each section, unless you have basil, which grows close together, so more can fit in.
• We give the plants lots of space between each other, as they grow big above ground with stems and leaves, and underground with big root systems.
• Plant the herbs in their own section; straight after planting, water them. This will help the plant root faster.

Remember

• Mint grows larger than parsley and basil so it needs more space. It can grow up to a metre in height and spread very far like strawberries.
• Parsley is a bushy shrub, which grows outwards more than upwards but can grow to 30 centimetres tall.
• Rosemary can grow into a 2 metre high plant in the wild, and can live for 30 years or more. Rosemary is also called ‘the herb of friendship’.
• Basil is a short herb that comes in colours from green to purple.
• Thyme is a short shrub like herb with over 350 species. It grows up to 50 centimetres in height, is very nice smelling and is used as potpourri or added to recipes when cooking.