What's Outside Counts, Too: Trends in Herb Container Gardening

Planting some herbs in your garden or in a container in your home can help the blandest of meal spring to life. But where to start? Find some inspiration in Simon & Garfunkel’s 1966 hit song "Scarborough Fair/Canticle." Sing along while you plant parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme ... and then maybe add lavender, basil, tarragon and bay laurel (for bay leaves) to the refrain.

More to the point, growing herbs is simple and accessible. Anyone, anywhere can do it.

“Growing herbs is fun because they’re easy to grow, and you can put them in fantastic pots and place them inside or outside,” said Patricia L. Collins, director of gardens for Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. “As long as they have sun and good drainage, you’re good to go."

It's Not Just Containers

When it comes to container gardening, some accessories help both indoor and outdoor gardeners, from seed to saucepan.

- The “Mini Dibbler”: This an extra-small version of the bulb-planting tool. According to Esschert Design owner Dirk Burghouts, the mini dibbler is essential for avoiding a late freeze when planting seedlings.

- Cutting Tools: Scissors could do, but many manufacturers, like Esschert, make cutting tools specifically designed for the tight confines of container gardening.

- Drying Kits: If you're thumb is greener than you thought, and your produce an herbal abundance, a drying kit might be worth the investment. It will enable you to preserve your herbs for later use.

Indeed, all you really need is a container. And when it comes to containers for herbs, the choices are just about endless.

Growers with small balconies and porches might opt for hanging containers, like Toland Home Garden offers a colorful nylon version with a built-in drainage system for excess water. First-time herb growers might look for a bit less hassle, as with Esschert Design USA's "Secrets du Potager" collection of veritable turnkey herb garden solutions.

The same collection caters to the more ambitious gardener, as well. Its Kitchen Herbs Planter, a four-sectioned planter with a lid, can be used as a tray to catch run-off water. The kit includes four sachets of seeds, four bags of soil, metal markers and growing instructions. In limited space, the kit is ideal for small kitchens, according to Esschert Design owner Dirk Burghouts.

But containers aren't just for kitchens. Because herbs can thrive indoors, herb planters can be part of your den or family room decor, as well. Find containers that fit your decorating scheme or choose bold pieces that act as focal points for your rooms.

The Dutch company Elho, for example, makes plastic bowl planters in a rainbow of colors and variety of sizes. (You can even buy your own matching gardening tool set.) The containers have a watering balancing system in them so that water doesn’t settle at the bottom and rot the roots.

For window or patio boxes, Elho's focus is functional, where boxes are lightweight and easy to install. Their Corsica Flower Bridge box is split in the middle so that it snugly fits over a patio rail.

In addition to functionality, texture, shape and materials highlight trends in herbal container gardening.

Nancy LaMotte, president of Anamese Garden & Home, which supplies high-end containers, said that while a glazed pot is timeless, more natural, highly textured finishes are garnering interest.

“You’ll be seeing a lot of Old World finishes,” she said. “We have a line called Aegean, where the pots look like they have been underseas for decades.”

Also trending are containers shaped like adorable animals with a big hole inside for the plants. “Huge!” LaMotte said. “Everyone loves the glazed chicken pot, but we’re selling cows, turtles, frogs. Everything.”

Some of these new designs are made in the sought-after polystone, a polyurethane product that is lighter weight than clay, she said.

Despite new products, you don't need to run to the store to upstart your herb garden. Particularly when growing indoors, “imagination is your only limit,” Collins said. “I’ve planted herbs in old boots, old bowls, whatever. The important thing is to start [them] and then enjoy.”

Joe Borocz, owner of Europe2You, is a big believer in putting new life into previously used items.

“We go through Europe looking for interesting-looking items,” said Borocz. “What makes it fun is the uses people find for them.”

Borocz said he thinks that many of the jars and wooden objects he sells make for great planters or displays for herbs and small plants.

“You can take an old bread bowl -- many of them are long and rectangular, as well as round," he said, "and they really make wonderful place to plant herbs because they don’t need a lot of dirt.”

Borocz said his customers have also planted indoor and outdoor herb gardens in cachepots and olive jars from the south of France, galvanized planters and dough bowls from Hungary and vintage bulb trays from the Netherlands. “Even an interesting bowl can become a container for herbs,” he said.