Video:How to Choose Herb Garden Containers
with Karen OlesonChoosing herb garden containers can greatly impact the success of your herb garden. Watch this video from About.com to learn which herb garden containers are best to use, and which soil is best to grow your plants.See Transcript
Transcript:How to Choose Herb Garden Containers
Hi, I'm Karen Oleson here for About.com. We're here to talk about containers for your culinary herbs today. I'm the owner of Oleson Farms in Sandpoint, Idaho.
Wood Is Good for Herb Garden Containers
This is just a little container I just made in 15 minutes. It's made out of scrap wood. Wood containers are a good choice because they have great drainage, and you can make them any size you want. You can also use ceramic, plastic, or any other container. Herbs are not that fussy. Just make sure you have something that drains well, so it has holes in the bottom when it's made out of wood.
Herb Garden Containers Should Have Holes
This one doesn't have holes in the bottom because it has plenty of seams where the water can escape. But if you get a plastic container that has no whole in the bottom, even though it's beautiful, it might kill your plants because they have to breathe. The roots need oxygen just as much as the top, so if oxygen can't get in there and it's water-logged, your plants will start to get yellow at first and then you can actually lose them. Get creative, have fun! Just remember your drainage and that you have adequate roots. The rule is you probably want to have at least 6 inches, a foot is better.
Tips for Soil for Herb Garden Containers
The soil in your container is going to make or break the success in your container garden for herbs. You want to make sure it has a breathable soil, it's light and that it will also hold moisture. You want to blend, you don't want a real sandy soil, pure mineral soil, you don't want pure peat moss potting soil too wet. You want a blend of native soil, if you can find native soil maybe with a little sand and either compost, peat moss, something that will old the moisture. A good blend of a soil that's not too dense, good porous, good drainage, but that will also hold the moisture. You can also use perlite or vermiculite if you have it, like a heavy clay soil you need to break up. And, if it has a little bone meal, your plants are going to be very happy.
If you want more information about planting herbs in containers, visit us as About.com.