Herbs - Planning, Planting, and Growing Your Herb Garden - When to Start

As soon as the ground is workable, i.e, no longer frozen and mucky, it is time to start preparing your garden for planting. Depending on the weather, this is usually around the end of April for northern hemisphere climates that have a sub-zero winter season.

If you are planting a new garden, first mark off the area with string and stakes. Remember to leave paths for getting to the plants for maintenance and harvesting. Remove the top layer of grass, then turn over the dirt at least 8 inches deep and loosen thoroughly with a rototiller or pitch fork. Rake well to remove all rocks, roots, and other debris.

Rake. Rake. And rake again until it is clean and level. This would also be the time to lay down any paths, stones, or railway ties.

Cover your garden with a 2 to 3 inch layer of organic matter, such as compost or a mixture of manure (sheep), bonemeal, and topsoil. Work this top layer into your soil well with a rake or rototiller. This not only fertilizes the soil, but also raises the garden a bit which helps to control weeds.

If you are planning to put your herbs in an existing flower or vegetable garden (where the soil has already been worked), you may just add the organic matter by the shovel-full to the soil at planting time.

NOTE: Remember that you are now adding herbs to this garden so avoid using pesticides and chemical fertilizers on your other plants, as they will leach into the soil and affect your herbs as well. Organic is the most preferred, healthy, and sustainable method of gardening/farming and should be put into practice at all times.