Jeff, you know what we need now?

An Herb Garden!

And so it began - it only seemed right, after all he had dug that big old hole for the newest ponds (I now have tropical island) and what else could he do with it, but make me a raised herb garden.  We tried one a couple of years ago, but put it back in the natural (translates "neglected") area of our yard & we have too much rain in Florida to grow herbs anywhere but in raised beds, so everything but the rosemary died.  So here goes - 7 steps to an herb garden (along with an added bonus picture of the area behind the herb garden). 

Ya'll - my Garden of Weeden'

(Thanks Jeff!)

"Ok Jeff, I laid out the plastic where I want it - it is ready for you to lay out the pressure treated plywood & make the frame."  The plastic that I laid is sheeting that goes on the side of buildings.   I did not use landscaping cloth because we have professional streght landscaping cloth (the kind you can't buy at Home Depot) and it looks like a grass nursery.  We could barely pull it up - there were roots 4 inches deep on the underside.  It helped the grass rather than hinder it.  So we are trying the plastic.  Water can drain out under the wood or between the boards.

The dirt & compost is all in the frame now & has been mixed up pretty good.  Although I had wanted a square formal type of garden, I took what he gave me & so I decided to use some plastic edging we had laying around and lay out some free forms for the 9 different herbs I had bought.   Once it was all ready we watered it down really well.

Ok, plants are in and mulch is out, we bought 2 bags of cypress mulch.  I am not happy with using cypress mulch (it is not any more made out of old cypress (thank God) but is made from fast grown new cypress & really does not have the benefits of old cypress.  But I must use what Jeff wants, so I did.  I had Jeff take this picture so you would know I am not ALWAYS sitting in my chair, drinking ice water and ordering Jeff around.  I do actually get my hands dirty - occassionaly.

The finished product - June 8, 1998.   I have a little sign in the corner that says "Garden of Weeden" which I purchased at Lowe's.  That dish to your right is full of stones & rocks & water - for butterflies & bugs to drink.  And now a list of my herbs.   Please remember I mostly bought these for garden fragrance & also for butterflies.  In the corner by the sign is some Rosemary (the only survivor from my old herb garden).  In the same area as the Rosemary I planted two Dill's.  (I purchased the herbs at Home Depot in little pots.)  To your right of the Dill is Lavender - which does not do well in Zone 9 (where I live) but I am HOPING!  Just above the lavender I planted Chocolate Mint.  In the right foremost corner is Creeping Lemon Thyme.  Next to that in the middle is Chamomile & behind it is Lemon Balm.  In the left foremost corner is Margoram and then behind that is Lemon Grass.  The Lemon Grass, Dill & Lavender all grow very tall I so used those as backgrounds.  But I still wasn't done yet, there was that grassy area between the house & the herb garden.  Next to the bedroom window without burglar bars we have a Spanish Bayonet growing & also a firecracker plant.  And then that unstoppable grass - so I pulled out

the plastic bags left from mulch & rocks and old landscaping cloth and covered the demon grass.  I had planted 3 Blue Daze and then used mulch all round that.  I laid blocks of wood and bricks all around the edge.  It won't kill the grass (every day I pull grass out of my herb garden - already!) but it will help.

Coming in the next few weeks will be recipies for herbs - so come on back!

Check out my page of Gardening Books and Herbal Page Links!

All Rights Reserved ©1998 Karrel Buckingham All Rights Reserved.