How to Make Cute Designs for Herb Gardens

Make a list of the herbs you want to grow, including their colors, size at maturity and special needs, such as very well-drained soil or prolonged sunlight and heat. The needs of your herbs will help you find the location--or locations--where they will do well.

Choose the space or spaces for your herbs with an open mind. For example, if your space is rectangular, you can adapt it into an oval space or use curved lines within the rectangle. If the space has the drainage, sun and space your herb plants need, use that as your starting point and design around growing conditions.

Place markers, such as gravel or bricks, on the area to help you visualize your design. Or use pieces of cardboard or scraps of landscape fabric to illustrate the shapes you want to include in your garden. Cut them with scissors to adjust to the space.

Base your design on the size of the plants at maturity. Since most herbs need excellent drainage, overcrowding can be a particular hazard in an herb garden, reducing air circulation and overtaxing space. Add small plants that can be trimmed or thinned if your larger plants need more than a season to reach full size. Creeping thyme, oregano and other small-leaved plants can fill in until other plants reach maturity.

Use old-fashioned design elements in new ways. The curves and curlicues of a medieval knot garden seem far too challenging to carry out and would also mean planting many more herbs than you can expect to use. Copy a small detail from an old garden design instead.

Consider adding containers of herbs throughout your space to tie in with an established bed. Choose a classic container that comes in an eye-catching color and a variety of sizes. Marching up the back stairs, filling the deck rail and clustering at a corner of the garage, distinctive dark red containers would draw the idea of your herb garden together even when herbs are planted in different locations. Use tall pot-markers with butterflies or bugs for another way to unify herbs planted in several locations.

Use modern materials and shapes to bring the idea of a designed herb garden up to date. Small pavers in a geometric design and a slate or cream color can be arranged to leave room for herb plants in the ground. Glass bricks, bamboo slices and recycled lumber could give your garden design a modern flair. Use small modern sculptures or weathered metal objects in place of classic garden statuary.