Plant Culture Information

Pot Size: The first main point about growing herbs is pots is this: The larger the pot, the larger the plant. The more root space a plant has to grow and feed in, the larger it will grow.
The minimum size we recommend is a 6-inch (in diameter) pot. This is small enough to fit in a windowsill, and large enough that you will get a fair amount of leaves to harvest. If you have the room, go with 8- to 10-inch pots for a larger harvest.
If you’re growing in pots outdoors, there’s no such thing as too large of a pot, but a 12- inch pot is adequate for any single herb plant.

Pot Type: There are several types of pots you can choose in which to grow your herbs: clay terra cotta, plastic or synthetic, wood planters, and cement. The first rule is to select a pot with a drain hole. I once had a customer bring a dead plant back to me asking what he had done to kill it so fast. Rather than put the plant in a pot, he planted it in a large glass candle holder with no drain hole. Within a week he got his first lesson in root rot, and acquainted with the undesirable smell of anaerobic bacteria! The plant had simple drown and rotted. Not fun, but he learned from this and hasn’t made the same mistake again.

Unglazed clay terra cotta is one of the best pots you can choose for growing herbs. Most herbs like to dry out a bit between waterings, and clay is naturally porous, and allows excess water to evaporate out of the sides of the pot. This is especially helpful if you get a little heavy-handed with the watering. Clay is also good for kitchen windowsills, where the plants are so conveniently close to the kitchen sink that you just have to water them every time you look at them! (Try to avoid this pitfall.) And clay pots last a long time. I’m still using some clay pots that my grandfather used 60 years ago. The little chips just add character.

Plastic (or glazed clay) pots, on the other hand, do not sweat out excess moisture. This can be a real problem if you tend to over-water, but if you’re the type that occasionally forgets to water your plants, plastic pots are a good choice. If you go away on business trips or vacations, you can even put a saucer under plastics pots. The saucer will hold some water which the soil will actually ‘draw up’ as it dries. But again, beware. This is not a good setup for heavy-handed waterers. Outside in the elements, plastic pots become brittle and crack within a few years.

Wooden planters and window boxes are very similar to clay in that they are porous and provide excellent drainage for herb plants. These are also excellent choices for plant groupings in which you can put a wonderful kitchen herb collection of Trailing Rosemary, Berggarten Sage, Greek Oregano, Parsley, Thyme and Chives. Place it close to the kitchen so you can easily go and snip a few leaves for use in cooking. Try to find redwood planters, which last several years.

Cement pots, while large, heavy and immobile, often come in very ornate designs that make a lovely showpiece in the garden or on the patio. The cement is somewhat porous, but it’s so thick that you have to be careful not to over-water the plants in it. And they last for decades. We have a grape relief cement urn in the garden that has been in the family for generations. Probably because nobody has the strength to move it!
Top of Page

Again, select a sight that matches the plants sunlight requirements. Raised beds work very well for herbs. They tend to offer better water drainage, and it’s easy to amend the soil. If you’re going to place them in a garden bed, pick a sight that has good drainage, or amend the soil with sand and compost to make the soil more fertile and drain better. Dig the amendments into the top 12 inches of soil with a digging fork or shovel.

Give adequate space between the plants, because even though they look small in our little pots, they’re not going to stay that way for long! Plants in the ground need good air circulation around the root zone–without it they are more susceptible to fungal diseases, especially with it’s hot and humid. As woody perennial plants grow larger (like rosemary and lavender), try to prune some of the growth away from the lower portion of the plants, about 4 to 6 inched above the soil. This will allow adequate air circulation around the crown of the plant.
Top of Page

Most herbs do not require a lot of water, every 2-3 days is usually sufficient. But in very hot weather, your plants may need water every day. Keep in mind that herbs planted in pots will require watering more often than herbs planted in the ground. This is because pots can dry out completely. But established plants in the ground have roots that grow deep to find readily available moisture. And it’s best to water the plants in the morning so they will have an ample supply during the day.
Top of Page

For gardeners who live in areas of the country that get ‘real’ winters, you are going to have to provide some protection for ‘tender’ perennial herb plants. (We give this hardiness information for all the herbs we offer in our online catalog.) Such plants as Bay Laurel, Rosemary, Lavender, Sage, Thyme and Cardamom need to be brought indoors during the winter. So it’s best to keep these plants in pots so you can easily transfer them indoors.

Prior to bringing them indoors, check them for any pests. Not only will the plants do better inside your warm, cozy cottage, so will the bugs! You may want to apply some insecticidal soap before bringing them in just to make sure you’re not bringing in any unwanted guests for the winter.

Bringing your plants indoors for the winter requires a little planning and a bit of back and forth moving for a couple of weeks. You can’t just bring them indoors to stay or they may go into shock and die. A few weeks before your first expected frost, start bringing your herbs inside overnight. Take them back outside during the daytime. Repeat this for about two weeks, and then they can stay inside for the remainder of the winter.

By the time your first frost has arrived and your daytime highs are below 40 F, your should be keeping your plants indoors for the remainder of the winter.

Once they are indoors, make sure the full-sun plants are in the sunniest location in the house, right in a window. Part sun plants can be near a window where they get ambient light. Don’t keep any of them too near a heater, or the hot air may dry the leaves too much and kill the plant. If you like your house to feel like a dry sauna in the winter, keep a mister handy and hit the plants every few days.

Don’t over-fertilize your plants during the winter indoors. Cut back your fertilizing to about one-fourth what you give your plants during the growing season.

The following spring you can set the plants back outdoors by repeating the back and forth moving of the plants, outside during the days, inside at nights for a couple of weeks. When all danger of frost is past, and you daytime lows are above 40F, you can keep you plants outside for the remainder of the growing season.