Creating a courtyard herb garden is a great way to make the most of the space you have. Since herbs are relatively easy to grow, inexpensive to maintain and fairly compact, they make wonderful courtyard plants. You can enjoy a peaceful, verdant, fragrant courtyard where you can entertain guests and relax on balmy afternoons. You can also provide yourself with a fresh supply of herbs and spices to use in the kitchen or in home remedies, or make into crafts. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Measure your courtyard and note its size and shape. Make a diagram on graph paper. Section it with a ruler by the square foot. Make copies of this basic diagram so you can play with different design sketches.
2. Plan your courtyard design. Think about where you want your plants to go. You may wish them to line the walls, cluster arrangements in corners, line paths or create a central feature for your courtyard. You may wish to choose a combination of these ideas.
3. Sketch out different possibilities on your photocopied diagrams. Consider not just garden plots, but seating areas and walking paths. Continue brainstorming until you settle on a basic design.
4. Plan the layout of the herbs you wish to grow. Combine annuals with perennials so that you won't have barren areas during any particular growing season. If you live in very cold areas where few herbs survive outdoors, you may wish to add some evergreens so that your courtyard won't be an empty wasteland in the winter.
5. Select taller, towering plants, such as dill or fennel, to line walls or place in the back row of beds. Medium-height, bushy herbs such as basil and sage are great for anywhere you want to look full and lush. Small, compact herbs, such as chives, parsley or thyme, make great border plants.
6. Get some containers. Even if you have ground soil to plant in, use a few decorative containers to add levels and create focal points. Select a few hanging baskets to draw the eye up and around the courtyard. Stack pots on tables or tiered plant stands next to seating areas or along entryways. Add a sweet bay tree or dwarf fruit tree in a half whiskey-barrel planter as a beautiful "centerpiece" for your courtyard.
7. Research your plants and determine the best time to set them out in your growing zone. Purchase transplants or start seeds ahead of time.
8. Harden off seedlings by setting them out in pots each day for a week before transplanting. Hardening off is the process of acclimating the plant to its new location slowly. Place them outdoors for an hour on the first day, and increase each day's exposure by one hour. As they are out there, you can decide if you like their placement or take this last opportunity to rearrange them.
9. Transplant your herbs into the ground or into containers. Add a layer of organic mulch to the ground and containers. This will not only help the soil retain water and heat, and cut down on your weeding, but will give the courtyard a consistent look.
Tags: your courtyard, herbs such, line walls, seating areas, your plants