How to Get Started with Herb Gardening

bobbyjones| March 15, 2010 | No Comments

You can start your own herb garden by heading out to your local greenhouse, nursery or home improvement store to purchase them. Another way to get started with your herb garden would be to germinate your plants from seeds. Those are all good and well, but a third option, called propagation is cheaper than buying your plants or growing them from seeds.

Propagation is simply finding a friend or neighbor who already has herbs and then taking either part of their plant through division or by taking a cutting of their herb and growing roots for before planting it.

Division works just like it sounds: you take an existing plant and divide it into smaller plants.. You can easily do this with a clump of chives or thyme. Use your shovel to separate the herb all the way down through the roots. Some spreading plants, like English chamomile, are not as hard as others.

You do not have to use a shovel; you can take a couple of regular forks and use them and your hands to separate the plant. If you water the herb the day before, the soil will be good and moist and ready for division. Next, all you do is replant the part you divided just like an herb that you’d buy at the market.

Another thing that is different is that you’re going to want to fertilize the new little herb when you put it into its new home. above and beyond the fertilizer, I’d advise you use a root stimulator to help those recently cut off roots to grow back.

If you are not very happy about getting your hands dirty, you can make a cutting of the existing herb instead. Just keep in mind that your cuttings won’t have any roots and cannot be planted in the ground or in a pot until it does, which could take several weeks.. Not all herbs respond very well to cuttings, so do your homework before you get out your garden scissors.

New, immature plants are easier to get cuttings from than the older, woodier herbs .  But like I always hear; make do with what you have. When making a cutting, follow these guidelines:

• Look for a branch that has at least 3 leaves and then cut it off at the stem and remove the leaves

• Now here is where I am different from other folks: they suggest that you only dip the stem into a root stimulator while I recommend that you soak the stem overnight in a diluted mixture of root stimulator and water.

• When you remove the stems from the root stimulator, stick it into a small pot of rich and moistened soil. You’ll want to bury the stem so that no bare part (where you removed the leaves) is seen.

• Add a little more water and keep soil moist but not flooded. From here, just be patient because it’s going to take several weeks for the new leaves to sprout.

If you do decide to start with cuttings, a few of my favorite herbs to grow from cuttings include artemisia, basil, beebalm, lemon verbena and any of the mints..

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more Herb Garden Information.  Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens. 

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