Mother's Day

How to Plant an Herb Container Garden

Herbs have been grown all over the world for centuries for their flavor and goodness. Used in a variety of ways, such as our recipe for Herbal Sun Tea, you too can learn how to plant your own herb container garden.

Excerpted from Ready, Set, Grow! by DK BooksDorling Kindersley
Filed under: Herbs, Container Gardening, How To

Choose a variety of herbs to plant for this project. We used bergamot, epazote, mint, lemon verbena, lemon balm, catnip, borage and lemon grass. All of these herbs like to grow in full sun and prefer moist, well-drained soil mixed with a little grit. This project will take one day to complete.

Materials Needed:

old suitcase (or large planting container)
garbage bag
gravel
potting soil
herb plants of choice

small gardening shovel
paper
colored markers
toothpicks
glue

1. Prepare your container.

Ask an adult to drill holes in the base of an old suitcase. Place a trash bag inside and punch holes in it. Add a layer of grit and then fill the case with potting soil mixed with some grit.

2. Have fun with geography.

Imagine the surface of your suitcase is a world map. Arrange the herb plants you have bought according to the position of the country where they originated.

3. Create space for herb plants.

For each plant, make a deep hole in the soil that is large enough to fit the root ball. Water the plant, then gently squeeze it out of its pot and place the plant into the hole. Hold the plant by the root ball as you gently remove it from its pot.