Herbs for Your Spiral Garden and Kitchen

Build a Beautiful Herb Garden for Cooking

Without an herb garden, I doubt I would be able to cook a meal.

Nothing adds more flavor to a meal than freshly harvested herbs. Herbs are incredibly easy to grow and growing them in an herb spiral enables one with limited space to grow many different herbs. When planning an herb spiral, let your imagination run away with you. Think of all the different types of materials that could be used.

In addition to the decorative boulders, like I used in our video, some other materials could be 3 x 6 wooden piers, Geometric shaped wooden frames stacked on top of one another, old bricks.

And imagine a combination of wood and brick and boulders. How about this idea....old satellite dishes....largest on the bottom, then the next largest and the smaller ones making the top level.

What other items headed for the landfill could be revived and used to make a spiral garden? Send us your pictures!!! As a long time herb gardener, I can recommend some of the best herbs to start with and where to put them in your spiral. Before I embark on "the list" I want to highlight a couple of my all time favorite herbs that are a must grow.

French thyme can remain compact and is a cut and come again type of perennial herb. It will also help it from becoming woody. It is an herb that is delicious in a rub with a little fleur de sel, fresh ground pepper and meyer lemon rind. I love this flavor with Lamb and Beef. I also use thyme sprinkled liberally under the top dusting of fresh shredded parmesan on my Filo dough tomato tart.

Another beautiful and versatile herb is oregano. As a kid in NJ, I was always disappointed when commercially packaged dried oregano was added to tomato sauces and pizzas. Nothing to compare with fresh oregano, or oregano dried at home. It grows to be a full lush plant and the flowers are beautiful and attract many beneficial insects.

My favorite chicken marinade is olive oil, meyer lemon juice, minced garlic, fresh oregano, sea salt and course ground pepper. Nothing beats Dill for flavor in a cold cucumber soup. I like the Dill Bouquet. Dill is such a beautiful feathery plant and will provide a fairylike contrast next to some stiff plants like rosemary and thyme. Ok, now for that list.

Herbs for the top of the spiral

The top of the spiral will have the fastest drainage and be the warmest and the driest. Put your Mediterranean herbs and other herbs that need great drainage towards the top. Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Sage, Lavender, or Marjoram. Branch out and consider these medicinal herbs for the top of your spiral: Madder, Hibiscus, Lemon Grass, Ashwagandha, Scented Geranium, Horehound, Pyrethrum, Daisy Desert, or Tobacco

Herbs for the middle of the spiral

The middle will be in the middle, naturally. The south side of the spiral will be the warmest and sunnies. The north side will be the coolest and shadiest. Chives, Parsley, Violas, Chamomile, Marigolds, Borage, Calendula, Dill, or Fennel. Medicinal herbs that like the middle: Mexican Chia, Lemon Balm, Rue, Self-Heal, Blue Vervain, Arnica, or Tobacco.

Herbs for the bottom of the spiral

This will be the wettest part of the spiral. You can make it more so by adding a small pond. Sorrel, Mints, Watercress, Mexican Tarragon, or  Summer Savory. Medicinal herbs that like it moist: Sweet Flag, Skullcap, Plantain, or Yerba Mensa.

Our selection of herb seeds for sale can be found here.