Herb Gardening

November 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

This time of year many people are starting to do large scale planting of their herb gardens for the upcoming season and if you check your local retail garden centers they have a lot of your favorites in good supply at this time of year.

If you’re doing outside traditional type gardening, make sure that you incorporate some organic material or good topsoil in the planting areas to insure a little bit better growth of the herbs. Don’t forget, too, after the garden is planted to mulch heavily with 2 or 3 inches of mulch to discourage weed competition.

If you’re gardening in containers, make sure you have potting media that drains well. Many people get into trouble with potting medias that hold too much water and then root disease develops and they end up getting dieback or even los the entire plant.

Don’t forget too that many herbs do well in hanging baskets and that’s a good way to make use of vertical space or to decorate porches and screened areas.

If you have questions about the types of herbs that are best this time of year or if you have specific problems and you need expert advise, check with fellow members at monthly meetings or call the County Extension office.