Growing Perennial Herbs

There's nothing like the taste of fresh herbs in your cooking and growing perennial herbs in your garden is easy. You can grow them alongside your vegetables or as edging or to add interest to your flower garden. Keep them close to the kitchen by growing in containers on your back step or deck and bring them inside in winter for fresh herbal cooking all year long.

When growing perennial herbs, keep in mind that they like a sunny spot with well drained soil and medium fertilization. If you attempt to grow them in too shady of a spot or over fertilize, it will result in a less flavorful herb.

You can grow them from seed or small plantlings. Chances are you'll only need a few plants for your culinary uses so keep this in mind. Herbs have a wonderful aroma, so plant them close to areas that you frequent so you can fully enjoy the fruits of growing perennial herbs.

Do not use pesticides on herbs. If you are growing perennial herbs in your garden next to vegetables that you use pesticides on, take care that you do not get any on the herbs. Herbs are naturally pest free so you will not need any special pesticides for them.

The wonderful flavor and medicinal qualities of herbs is due mainly to the oils in the plants. To make sure you maximize oil production make sure you do not over water or over fertilize. Adding too much fertilizer will result in a busy plant, but of lesser flavor. Some people like to keep certain herbs for cooking and they snip off a few leaves here and there as needed, but the plant will be most flavorful right before flowering, so this is a good time to harvest the leaves if you plan to freeze or dry them for later use.

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