An Introduction to Herb Gardening

Ron Johnson

DeKalb County Master Gardener Coordinator

The delight that herbs bring to the home garden include color, fragrance, texture and form in landscaping, and perhaps even a degree of enchantment throughout the growing season. Because of their appearance and aromatic quality, herbs can be enjoyed and used year round for cooking, flavoring, scenting, medicinal purposes, decoration, and crafts. In general, herbs are easy to grow, have few insect and disease problems, and are inexpensive compared to buying fresh herbs from the grocery store or farmer's market.

Basically, herbs are either annuals, biennials, or perennials. Annuals such as basil, cilantro, dill, and summer savory grow, flower and produce seeds during one season before they die. Parsley is an example of a biennial herb which grows for two seasons, flowering the second year. Herb of the Year for 2007 is lemon balm which is a perennial. Perennials can over winter, often spread and need to be trimmed, and should be divided every 3-5 years.

Herb gardens can take many forms. Before you begin, decide on a plan that best fits your needs. The traditional herb garden may be one option. They can also be tucked into flower or vegetable gardens.

Decorative pots and various containers are good places to grow herbs. There are several advantages to growing herbs in containers. They can be moved indoors for the winter, are portable, and provide excellent drainage. The mints Mentha species tend to spread aggressively so you might want to grow them in containers. Chocolate mint adds a nice touch to a planter.

The needs of herbs are: good air circulation, an essential 6 hours of full sun, average, well draining soil suitable for vegetables, and very little fertilizer. Start with herbs that you know and will use such as chives, basil, parsley, oregano, sage, and a mint or two.

Kitchen herbs would include basil, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, Italian parsley, rosemary, chives, bay, burnet, summer savory, lovage, French

tarragon, and lemon verbena as well as the seed herbs such as dill, bronze fennel, coriander, caraway, and anise. Often there are several varieties of a single type of culinary herbs. Genovese, mammoth, and sweet basils would be a good start. Greek oregano is the best variety for culinary purposes.

Some herbs recommended for their fragrance are lavender, scented geraniums, various mints, lemon balm, sweet woodruff, chamomile, lemon thyme, and lemon verbena. Please note that not all varieties of lavender are hardy and do not fertilize them as it makes the plant more susceptible to frost damage and to fungus infection.

Herbs that add nice colors to your garden would be nasturtium, borage, garlic chives, calendula, bee balm, pineapple sage, calamint, hyssop, catnip, and rue.

Tips for summer care and maintenance of your herbs are: provide good drainage, keep water use low, prune to promote bushier and compact growth, keep flowers off for maximum flavor, and harvest late in the morning after the dew has evaporated. If it hasn't rained in a while, hose off the herbs the night before for a cleaner harvest. As winter approaches, marginally hardy plants should be brought inside as most herbs are from the Mediterranean region. Herbs most at risk are winter savory, thyme, lavender, bay, and Greek oregano.

To preserve your harvest by freezing, cut the herbs to fit into ice cube trays, add water and freeze. Herbs can also be cut into small snippets, placed on a cookie sheet to quick freeze, and stored in containers or bags in the freezer until used. Basil, chives, fennel, parsley, chervil, dill weed, burnet, mint, and tarragon may be frozen.

Air dry herbs by hanging them tied in bunches of 7-8 stems in a warm, dark place until they are crisp and completely dried out. At a temperature of 75-80 degrees this may take as long as 3 or 4 weeks. Remove the leaves from the stems and store in jars for later use. Oven drying is the shortened version of air drying by which you place a thin layer of herbs on a cookie sheet, dry at 180 degrees F for 3-4 hours with the oven door open until dry.

Then store the herbs in labeled jars. Parsley is best oven dried.

The herb garden that is carefully planted and maintained is sure to reward its creator throughout the entire season.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, home gardening or about the Master Gardener program, call the Master Gardeners, c/o University of Illinois Extension DeKalb County office at (815-758-8194) or e-mail dekalb_mg@extension.uiuc.edu.