Get your herb plants from a good garden center nursery who will have plenty of garden advice to help you with your inside garden. You will need some garden equipment like a small digging garden tool, garden gloves, organic fertilizer and some small gardening containers. You probably already have most of these garden supplies in your garden shed.

Soil is the most important aspect of growing herbs indoors. Use only top grade potting soil with an organic fertilizer mixed in. If you think it is too fine a soil, use a little perlite. Fertilize while potting the herbs and they should be happy until spring. If you have a herb that is not growing vigorously add a little organic liquid fertilizer to the water.

When you go to transplant the herb, go one inch up in the size of the gardening container. If the plant is in a two inch pot, go to a three inch gardening container. Leave the roots alone and be careful not to bruise the stem. Don’t plant oreganos, mints, lemon balm or bee balm with other plants because they will overgrow everything. Pot these herbs in a garden container all of their own. Some people swear that you must put garden stones in the bottom of the gardening container, but I dispute that opinion. I feel that the garden stones take valuable space away from the herb roots.

When it comes to light, all herbs must get 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day on your window sill. If your window doesn’t supply that much light then purchase garden grow lights and hang them three inches above the plants. If you live in a very hot climate shade the herbs during the hottest periods. If you live in a very cold climate keep the herbs away from the cold glass panes.

When it comes to watering, don’t let the herbs dry out but don’t drown them either. An inexpensive water meter from your garden center nursery will help with this important step in growing your herbs. Always use room temperature water so as not to shock the herb’s roots.

If you follow all of these steps you will have a healthy herb garden all winter.

Copyright 2005 Mary Hanna

This article may be distributed freely on your website, in your ezines and in your eBooks, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged. Copyright © 2005 Mary Hanna. All Rights reserved

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives full time in Central Florida which allows her to garden and grow herbs inside and outside year round.

Herbs are annuals, biennials and perennial plants. Herbs like Basil, Coriander and Dill are annuals that bloom for one season only and then die. Caraway and parsley are biennials that live for two seasons and bloom only in the second season. Perennials like chives, fennel, mint and tarragon die over winter and then blossom each season once the plant has established itself.

Herbs need to be planted in a 20 by 4 foot garden space. In this garden, you can have separate plots for each type of herb. This mini plot is a 12 by 18 inch herb garden. With the many herbs that are being used, colorful and frequently used herbs can be planted around the borders of your plot. Parsley and Purple Basil are examples of colorful border herb gardening.

For your herb garden to thrive the soil should not be very wet. Herbs do not grow in wet soil. To make your herb plot well drained, remove about 15 to 18 inches depth of soil. To the bottom of the hole add some crushed stone or other material that is similar to the stones.

A compost and sand mixture added to the soil will lighten the soils texture making it easier for the water to seep through the soil and drain away. Hummus will enrich the nutrients within the soil and restore the soils Ph level. Then refill the hole higher than it was originally.

The herbs can be planted in the ground late winter. Herb gardening requires that you first grow them indoors in shallow trays. The herb seeds must not be covered with a thick coating of soil. The soil needs to be light and well drained. This type of soil texture will ensure that your herb gardening gets off to good start.

Once your herbs are planted outdoors there are a few insects that can attack the plants. Aphids like anise, caraway, dill and fennel herbs. The red mite spider attacks low growing herbs. Rust can be a disease-like status for mint plants.

But these minor troubles aside, herb gardening is a peaceful and intriguing activity that takes its place in history. Whether you use herbs for cooking, medicinal use or even aromatic usage, the art of herb gardening is making a comeback amongst gardeners. Join their ranks and enjoy the pleasures of using your own herbs.