Growing Herbs in Your Apartment

No matter where you live, you can have your own herb garden and have the many benefits of being an herb gardener.  When I got my first apartment, one of the first things I did was begin herb gardening in containers, including basil, oregano and parsley.

In addition to those outdoors, I added some indoor herb plants. Congregated around the only southern facing window in the spot were a number of other little herbs like lemongrass and lavender, which smelled fantastic together, and to those I added my outdoor herbs when winter came..

In a later apartment in the city I had almost no natural light because what little I could have had was blocked by an iron grate that covered the entire opening. So I built a flower bed made from chicken wire, leaves, newspaper, pine needles, peat and sod to hang outside the grate and I filled it with my kitchen herbs, plus some chamomile and other flowering herbs and some cascading vines. It looked wonderful, but needed to be watered all the time.

You can enjoy the same successes that I have had if you take a couple of basic ideas to herb gardening and apply them to your apartment or living space.

First things first, look around your apartment to find locations where you can cultivate your herb plants. Do you have a good indoor or outdoor location where you can get your green thumb on? Do not believe that you need some large elaborate space either. Did you know that a number of herbs can thrive in small places? For example, you can cultivate chives for your next baked potato in a pot about the size of an espresso cup—provided it has enough drainage.

The next factor to consider is the lighting. The right amount of lighting is essential to your plants’ growth. Without the right amount of sun your plants won’t survive. In an apartment I had in the city many years ago I had two windows in the whole location: one faced east, which meant that it got the full morning sun, but nothing else and the other, a tiny window in the bathroom faced south—which is the best way to face—and that one became my herb garden window. This worked because the window got a lot of southern sun and moisture from the bathroom helped the plants.

Once you determine where you can create your herb garden and the quality, type and amount of sunlight that your chosen area has, you are ready to decide which herbs you want to grow. There are a lot of herb plants to choose from. Do not get overwhelmed. What you pick-up will depend on how you plan to use your herb plants. Do you want herbs for the scent, for healing purposes, for cooking or for use in cosmetics or maybe you just want something pretty to look at? For just about any need you have, there’s an plant out there with your name on it. Start by flipping through a book on herb gardening and focus on herbs that have the natural light needs that your space will respond to. Very soon, you’ll be ready to go!

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Windowsill Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.