Fresh spices, especially herbs, are among items that are rare on the market yet sold expensively. If herbs are a must have item on your shopping list, why not grow your own herbs and cut down costs? Growing herbs is a practical way to add flavour to your kitchen, delight to your garden and they serve as medicinal remedies.
Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow and they require little maintenance. However, before you start growing herbs, decide which herbs you would like to grow. You should take into account the eventual size of your plants. If you buy perennial herbs from garden centres, the labels on the pots should tell you how tall and wide your plant will get. Seed packets should give you the same information. This will give you a good idea of how much space you will need.
Growing Herbs in Containers
If you are short of space, herbs grow well in containers. All you need is to use multi-purpose compost and make sure the containers have good drainage, such as stones or gravel at the bottom. Containers are prone to drying out quickly, so ensure they are well watered.
If you are growing your herbs in terracotta pots, you should line them with plastic bags to help prevent water from evaporating from the walls of the pot. Most herbs grow well in pots; you can try out a selection of parsley, thyme, chives, sage, basil, coriander, tarragon and lavender. The garden looks effective and handy if located outside the kitchen door or on the balcony.
Container gardening comes with a number of advantages, you can move the pots around, in and out of the sun or inclement weather, and it is harder for the creeping , crawling garden pests to get at them.
Alternatively, you could even grow herbs in a hanging basket. The best ones include; parsley, chives, thyme, coriander and basil. Avoid adding mint, as it is a rampant grower and can swallow up the rest. It can instead have a pot to itself.
