subject: How To Have A Superb Home Herb Garden [print this page] You dont need to be an editor at Better Homes and Gardens to have an amazing home herb garden. Its really not that hard to accomplish. While you may think that you need to be a world class botanist, growing a home herb garden is one of the easiest types of gardens you can grow.
Growing a home herb garden is rewarding in so many ways. Research has shown that gardening can help people recover after a long illness, such as cancer. Studies continue to be performed, but researchers are trying to find out why it is that people recover faster if they participate in an activity that has them communing with nature, such as having a home herb garden. If your home herb garden is outside, you will also benefit from receiving a dose of vitamin D from the sunlight. Its been estimated that a large percentage of adults do not receive enough of this vitamin, due to the fact that most people now spend the majority of their time inside buildings.
So now that you know why you should have home herb garden, how do you have an herb garden that your neighbors will envy? Well there are a few things you can do to help your home herb garden along.
The first thing you can do is decide whether you will start your herb plants from seed, or if you will purchase seedlings from your garden center. Opinions on this differ, and really its a matter of personal preference. You can start your own seedlings with little effort, just by getting a special tray that works like a small greenhouse. This will give you a little more control over your plants than if you just get them at the store.
Once youve made the choice about whether or not you will start seeds or buy seedlings, then you should look at the containers you will plant them in and your potting soil. Be sure that youre pots allow drainage to avoid drowning your plants, as herb plants can be quite sensitive to over watering. The best all around pot for herbs is the style that has holes in the bottom for drainage, but sits in a saucer like tray. This way the plants can absorb the water that they need when they need it, since plants use water from the roots up. You can find these at a very low price for the basic plastic styles. You should also use a high quality potting soil. Regular old top soil just wont cut it. Most potting mixes have fertilizer and plant food in the mix, which is vital for potted plants. Some even have special fibers in the mix that help water the plants more evenly.
Having a home herb garden can be rewarding physically as well as emotionally. Not only is gardening good for you, but youll end up with beautiful herbs to add flavor to all your dishes without adding things like fat, cholesterol and sodium. So give herb gardening a try and see if you dont find it enjoyable as well.
