How to Grow Herbs (for the Plant-Challenged)
May 05, 2025
If you’re a whiz in the kitchen but not in the garden, here’s a hobby to combine the two! Learning how to grow herbs is easy. These low-maintenance and useful plants can be grown indoors or outdoors. They don’t need much from you to flourish, and you get to enjoy fresh flavor at your fingertips all year long.
Let’s get started.
Easy Herbs to Grow
If you love to cook, you probably use herbs every day—for sauces, curries, or just decorative touches to finish off your plate. And the good thing is, they’re super easy to grow! They don’t need much space to thrive, and they do well in containers or can fill out the empty spots in your garden.
Add them to sauces, soups, salad dressings, drinks, and desserts to add a bit of color and flavor. Besides cooking, they’re also great for medicinal purposes, in teas, or as an air freshener. With all these possible uses, knowing how to grow herbs is a handy skill.
Just like with any other plants, it’s important to remember the difference between annuals and perennials. Annuals die each year and need to be replanted, while perennials come back year after year. Here are some easy annual and perennial herbs to grow for a beginner.
Annual Herbs:
Perennial Herbs:
- Thyme
- Chives
- Sage
- Lavender
- Mint
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Tarragon
If you’re not sure where to start, pick ones that you use most often in your cooking. Basil, dill, parsley, and chives are especially popular.
How to Grow Herbs Step by Step
With just some sunlight and water, your herbs will be sprouting in no time. Here are some basic tips for growing herbs that you should follow.
Sunlight
Just like us after a long, cold winter, herbs love sunlight. Most of them thrive in full sun and need at least six hours a day. When choosing your location, make sure it gets plenty of direct light. If you only have shady spots to work with, pick herbs like chives, parsley, and mint that can grow practically anywhere.
Soil
To learn how to grow herbs successfully, soil is crucial. The best soil for herbs has good drainage. Each type of soil is different when it comes to moisture retention. For example, clay soil holds a lot of water, so you would need to amend it with compost or sand.
Ideally, you want a well-draining, sandy soil to avoid root rot. For this same reason, always choose containers with drainage holes. Herbs don’t like soggy roots!
Location
Herbs are fun to add to your collection because they can grow almost anywhere—in pots, in raised beds, or in the ground. If you’re wondering where to plant herbs, consider the weather. You don’t want to put them out too early. Keep them inside until it gets warm (typically mid-May), and then move them outside. Remember to bring them back in when it starts to get cold.
If you have a small space, just set a pot on your windowsill or patio (as long as it gets plenty of light). If you have a large yard, you can grow an entire herb garden.
Watering
Successful herb gardening requires consistent watering. For potted plants, make sure you water them every few days, so the soil doesn’t dry out. For ones in the ground, only water them during dry periods. This is especially important when the plants are young and still establishing their roots.
Pruning
To keep your herbs looking their best and growing strong, make sure to prune them regularly. This helps extend the life of your herbs. Cutting or pinching off new growth at the top forces them to grow outwards instead of upwards. This makes them look fuller, last longer, and not outgrow their space.
Stop pruning a bit before the first frost of the year. You don’t want new buds to form that won’t be able to survive the temperatures!
Harvesting
Many people don’t realize that harvesting your herbs the wrong way can stunt their growth or reduce their flavor.
Our tip for growing herbs is to harvest in the morning, after the dew has dried but before the sun is too strong. Use sharp scissors to cut just above the leaf node to encourage new growth. Make sure to harvest before they flower. Afterward, they stop producing as many leaves and lose a lot of their flavor.
Fertilizer
We recommend using a slow-release fertilizer for annuals or herbs that you cut often. Perennials don’t need fertilizer as much. And when your annuals have died for the year, remember to compost them!
Propagating
Propagating herbs is a great way to grow your garden on a budget. Just cut off a piece of a mature herb that you want to replicate and place it in a glass of water. Set it on a windowsill and wait a few weeks until you see roots begin to form. Then you can plant it in soil.
Herb Garden Design
Now that you’re an expert on how to grow herbs, it’s time to design your garden. If you’ve decided to plant in the ground, here are some things to keep in mind.
First, pick your herbs wisely. Lemon balm and mint are known to spread rapidly and take over a garden. Be careful before planting them, because they may be hard to get rid of in the future. Also keep in your mind what you plan to use the herbs for. If you love pesto, then one basil plant might not be enough.
But whatever you plant, remember to label them! Lots of herbs look similar to the untrained eye, so if you’re growing a variety, use garden markers to keep things straight.
Next, decide your layout and where to grow herbs. If rows are too uniform for you, choose a more organic pattern. Start by picking a central plant that you want to feature, like rosemary or lavender. Then surround that with flowering herbs and smaller ones along the border. If you’re planting in a raised bed or container, choose taller herbs for the back and shorter ones for the front.
Lastly, we recommend that you start small. Test out a few varieties to see what works and what doesn’t before tackling a full garden. Be careful not to overplant. Herbs tend to spread and fill out the space they’re in, so wait a bit before adding more to the gaps.
Here are some of our favorite ideas for herb gardening:
- Flower boxes outside your window
- Container gardens on your patio
- Raised beds for height variety
- Cute pot in a windowsill
Preserving Herbs
How to grow herbs is the easy part. It’s using them all that’s the problem! Once you have a thriving herb garden, start bringing them into the kitchen. Check out our guide on cooking with herbs to see some unique ways you can incorporate fresh herbs into your meal. But if you’re worried about them going to waste, here are a few ways to make them last.
The first is freezing them. Once herbs thaw, they will be limp. This means they’re better to use in cooked dishes than as a garnish on top. We recommend chopping them up and placing them in an ice cube tray with either water or a neutral-flavored oil. Then you can just pop out a cube whenever you need.
You can also dry your herbs. If you have a food dehydrator, that is certainly the fastest method. But if not, air drying works just as well. Bundle your herbs together and hang them upside down to dry in a cool, dark place. After one to two weeks, once the leaves are crumbly, you can store them in an airtight container to use in your next meal.
Ready to create your herb garden? Browse our collection of easy-to-grow starter plants and get growing today!