Raised Herb Garden: Anyone Can Do It!
It took my husband and I 2 hours, 3.5 bags of potting soil and one trip to the nursery around the corner to outfit ourselves with a raised herb garden that I'll be happily using all summer long. I was amazed how easy it was, and we used materials we had just lying around the house!
We started with pavers that were lying in our backyard from the previous owners. We could have used wood and made a box, but it was easy to stack these together. Our herb garden is in full sun.
Top left: basil (adding another one), parsley, rosemary, sage, oregano.
Middle (I left room for another trip to the nursery)
Bottom left: chamomile, lavender, two strawberry plants
So how did we do it? Easy peasy!
First, we gathered our materials with a trip to the nursery. I was somewhat conservative with the plants and seeds I bought, not knowing how far to space each plant. I'll be going back to add more after Spring Break.
We moved and adjusted them, then propped up the pavers with loose bricks. We ended up adding a second paver to the far ends for support. The best part about using the pavers was we could move and adjust them for size and position. I decided they had to be centered under the garage window, and we had two small stumps to deal with. If you have a teensy yard, these could work for you as well.
We filled in the paver outline with a layer of cardboard. We used a simple packing box and flattened it. Then we poured out two bags of topsoil and spread them evenly.
I laid out the plants where I thought they would best fit, keeping the large leafy plants in the back. The middle of the garden is the shallowest, so we will either plant seeds or flowers there.
We spread about a 1/3 of the last bag of topsoil over the plants once they had been settled. Watered, and done! I'm really happy with the way our garden came out. My neighbor gave us some chicken wire, but I ran out of time before Spring Break to put it up. Keep your fingers crossed that no bunnies come and eat the herbs while we're gone!
Do you have a raised herb garden? Any tips for me?