Designs for an Herb Garden

Location

• Most herbs prefer a location that receives four to six hours of sunlight a day and is sheltered from strong winds. If your garden space is more shady than sunny, use herbs such as sorrel, golden feverfew, primrose, St. John's wort, foxglove or valerian. To bypass the sun-versus-shade issue, plant herbs in containers the first year to experiment with groupings and arrangements without making a long-term commitment.

Formal Herb Gardens

• Formal herb gardens are structured, balanced and orderly, with a well-defined pattern. Traditional knot gardens are bordered with low hedges such as boxwood or santolina. Hedges within the border create shapes resembling knots and the open spaces are planted with low-growing herbs. Knot gardens are meant to be viewed from above where the patterns are easily visible.

  A simple version of the formal herb garden can be designed in the shape of a square, with the traditional hedge borders. Add a center focal point such as a sculpture, large herb plant or small fountain. Create pathways from the center to each of the four corners and plant ground-cover herbs such as chamomile, pennyroyal or creeping thyme between the paths. Other possible shapes for a formal herb garden include a half-moon, triangle, circle, cartwheel or diamond. A spiral herb garden can be designed by mulching a long, continuous path in a spiral shape and planting herbs along one side.

Informal Herb Gardens

• Informal herb gardens are designed around a subtle structure created with short fences and pathways of gravel, mulch, grass or stone. The overall effect is loose and casual and herbs are often mixed in with vegetables, flowers and small trees. Add a bench or two, a birdbath and perhaps a rustic table and chair for a cottage garden atmosphere.

Theme Gardens

• Whether decorative or functional, herb garden design is often theme-based. A decorative garden may be monochromatic, with a variety of herbs in shades of a single color, or based on eye-catching combinations of contrasting colors and textures. Design your garden around one herb with multiple varieties, such as a sage garden, with purple, tricolor, pineapple and common sage. A kitchen garden might include such culinary herbs as sage, basil, marjoram, dill and thyme. Plant an aromatic garden with rosemary, lemon balm, mint and scented geraniums. A Biblical garden can feature herbs mentioned in the Bible. A tea garden incorporates herbs used in making tea, while a dyer's garden will focus on herbs for dye-making. Your herb garden design is limited only by your imagination.