You don't have to have a dedicated herb garden to grow and enjoy herbs. Herbs blend beautifully into the garden with other annuals, perennials, grasses, and shrubs and can help take the garden from ordinary to extraordinary. Their colors, forms, textures, and particularly their fragrance are always welcome additions to the garden.
Hold off on the fertilizer and water only as needed. What gives herbs their special benefits are more concentrated in plants that are kept "lean and mean"-too much water or fertilizer causes robust growth that lessens the potency of the fragrant, tasty oils.
Regular harvesting keeps herbs on their toes, constantly putting out new growth that increases both their garden interest and their herbal usefulness. Most herbs also prefer full sun in order to develop into the finest plants with the most concentrated fragrances and flavors.
Basil, chives, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme are the standard garden herbs that almost everyone grows. In the Southwest, less heat-tolerant herbs such as cilantro, dill, fennel, and savory can be grown during the cooler months of winter. Keep in mind that some herbs, especially mint, can be very vigorous and sometimes invasive in the garden. It may be best to keep mint growing in pots, where its roots are restricted and can?t invade surrounding garden soil.
