Herb garden and how to make herbal tea

Best position for a herb garden
Drought-loving Mediterranean herbs, such as Sage, Rosemary and Thyme  grow best in a sunny spot in well draining soil. As with all gardening there are exceptions Angelica, Chervil and Parsley all prefer a rich, moist soil and partial shade.

Soil for herbs
If your soil is mostly clay it will be rich in the nutrients your herb garden needs but wont drain, so add grit sand to the bed.
If your soil is sandy it will be low in nutrients but will drain well, just dig in compost from your compost heap.
How to find out what type of soil you have in your garden is explained here.

Containers/ raised herb beds
Raised garden beds or containers situated near the kitchen or patio door or under a window are ideal for planting herbs, they smell great on a hot summer?s day, remember though that most herbs like full sun, a few prefer part shade. So think about where you are going to build the raised bed to benefit from the aroma the herbs will give off and at the same time the full sun or partial shade your herb garden will grow best in.

Seed or plants
Most herbs, like coriander, dill and salad rocket are better grown from seed sown direct into the raised garden bed or container, as transplanting causes them to bolt and run to flower, missing out the leaf stage, but if time is of the essence and you cant wait to get your herb garden going, there are some ready-grown herb plants that are easily transplanted. Once they are planted you can seed the coriander, dill and salad rocket later.

Planting herbs
Like most plants, herbs look best planted in groups with the taller herbs grouped at the back of the raised herb bed and bushy plants like Rosemary in the corner, so they spread over the edge and wont take up valuable planting space. Try to position even the low growing herbs so they fall over the front and edges of the herb beds. When you brush past them they smell great. Depending on the herb varieties you choose to plant, you should be able to fit four to five plants into each 15in space.  

Herbs can also be planted anywhere in the garden and some like Feverfew are great companion plants for garden pest control, check out my companion planting page.

Looking after herbs
Looking after a Herb garden is fairly simple, add a liquid feed to your watering can once a week to give plants a boost during the growing season. To encourage new leaves, regularly pick from the tips of plants. This stimulates bushy new growth. In autumn, annual herbs such as basil and coriander  can be pulled out and added to your compost heap, and it's a good time to plant woody herbs like rosemary. Perennial herbs like mint, thyme, oregano and chives will die back, take a rest and regrow in the spring. If the perennial herbs become congested just dig up the plant and pull it apart into sections. Replant some and pot the others up for neighbours or to sell at the carboot.

Herbs you can grow from seed
and food uses

Basil  enhances tomato, fish, pasta and poultry. Sown annually   Dill  the light, aromatic flavour of both leaf and seed enhances fish, lamb or rice dishes. Sown annually in any free-draining soil.   Savory  highly aromatic with peppery overtones, the leaves are great with grilled fish and lamb, likes dry soil.   Sorrel  the young leaves are great in salads and soups, as well as being a natural meat tenderiser. Likes rich moist soil.    Wild rocket  The peppery leaves add zing to any salad. likes light shade in moist, well-fed soil.