Herbal Tea Gardens - Herb Garden Design

by Julia
(Franklin, Tn U.S.A.)

This is a great article on herbal tea gardens and herb garden design. I found it so interesting and informative that I posted it here in the Q&A section of this site. Julia even has a free e-book for you. (See below.)

Herbal tea gardens and herb garden designs range from the very whimsical to the very formal and, as you can imagine, everywhere in between.

My husband and I have seen lots of herb garden design ideas as we travel to botanical gardens and arboretums that I would like to share with you.

One of my favorite herb gardens was The National Herb Garden in Washington D.C. Since it is part of The United States National Arboretum, you know it was done right.

In the picture, you can see a beautifulgarden representative of the 16th Century knot garden. Many herb gardeners love this type of formal, geometrically correct herb garden where each plant is trimmed to perfection.

What happens when you want to take some cuttings in order to brew your favorite tea? Suddenly you find that you have huge gaps in your design!

Most of us won't have a garden like this, but I wanted you to see how delightful it is to add texture from many different types of herbs into one area. The different shades of green mixed with the silver and gray herbs really puts on a show.

Perhaps a more reasonable herbal tea gardens for most us is a simple kitchen tea garden located right outside our back door.

In our garden, we opted to have a raised potager herb garden, which incorporates a herbal tea garden with a medicinal and culinary garden. It is located down in our back yard since our back door opens up to our deck which is fifteen feet off the ground. This made a traditional kitchen garden right outside our door unreasonable.

Perhaps you have a similar situation. Maybe you love the idea of having a tea garden for making your very own fresh brewed herbal tea but you live in an apartment or condominium and think it's impossible to have your own garden there.

Don't worry. You can use pots (get the kind that looks like clay but won't crack in the winter) or use the new raised beds designed especially for decks. With these new raised beds, you can plant your herbal tea garden right out on your deck if you have at least six hours of sun each day.

Below are a few more tips to consider as you plan your herbal tea garden.

• Locate your herbal tea garden in an area that has at least six hours of sun a day. If you live in a hot/humid zone, full sun plants will tolerate more shade from the afternoon sun than plants growing in the cooler zones.




• Place your tea garden as close to the back door as possible. You're more likely to use them there. Also, the tender herbs, like rosemary, are protected from the winter cold.


• Make sure you can reach all the herbs easily. A bed no more than three feet deep is best.


• Plant for color and texture. Consider having blue-flowered herbs in one area and yellow flowered herbs in another.


• Group plants together for a nice herb garden design. Plant perennial herbs, like chives and oregano, in one area and biennials and annuals, like parsley and nasturtiums, in another. This helps to not disturb the roots of your established perennials when planting your annual herbs.


• Give your plants plenty of room. Read plant tags and place shorter herbs in the front and your taller herbs in the back.


• Add interest with pots. Put your mint, and any other invasive herbs, in pots so that they won't take over your garden. As mentioned before, use clay pot look-a-likes, instead of the real thing, unless you plan on bringing the pots indoors during the winter.

Another idea is to look at other gardens, magazines, and books in order to get ideas.

One book I have used is Mel Bartholomew's revised book entitled All New Square Foot Gardening. It has great ideas, pictures, and instructions on how to have a wonderful garden close to your house or on your deck.

We loved growing herbs mixed with veggies this summer using Mel's method. The average cost for building Mel's raised beds is about $50 which includes the soil mix he recommends.

Another book you might enjoy is Herbal Tea Gardens: 22 Plans For Your Enjoyment and Well-Being by Mareitta Marcin. In her book, Mareitta shares over 100 tea recipes such as Flu Brew and Woman's Energizing Tonic, as well as illustrated garden plans. This book really inspires you to grow your own brew.

The last book I'll mention is for those of you who like free e-books. Our latest e-book entitled Herbs For Your Health: How to Grow and Use Them has easy to read growing charts, pictures from our garden, and herb gardening tips that beginners and even experts may find helpful.

Learn more about it and download it free when you sign up for our newsletter at www.Flowers-Plants-Gardening-Advice.com

No matter how big or how small you want your herbal tea garden, consider having it professionally designed. It is well worth it to get it right from the start so that you and your family will have years of enjoyment from it. No matter where you live, Susan can give you a professional design that perfectly fits your site and growing interest. Check out her online design service. It's very cool.