Tuesday 27 November 2012

DIY Herb Shelf!

Herbs! I've love the idea of having a full garden filled with every different herb - both culinary & medicinal. But realistically there just isn't the room to have such a plot in the city! I tried growing a few intermingled with the flowers at our last house. But realistically they didn't look right where I put them and I either forgot about them or the died! 


This year, I've decided the way to go is pots! The previous owner has left some rubble around the property  so I've managed to recycle the building blocks & pieces of wood to make the shelves. So, after doing a bit of DIY'ing here is my make-shift herb shelves! They sit in between two windows alongside the house. Its made it much easier to grab some herbs to add to dinner too!

The blocks were REALLY ugly - but beggars can't be choosers! Especially when you don't have a heap of space to use! So I've filled them with potting mix & planted out some marigolds in them - even in the smaller ones on their sides! Practicality of watering these side-ways plants is a bit on the harder side.... but it spruces them up! To my surprise they are all growing too!

So what have I used? I've put lettuce on the top & have some more waiting to be transplanted for the right hand side. A mixture of basil, mint & parsley make up the rest of the pots with a couple of random orchids to enjoy the sunny spot!

In a larger pot  next to the shelves I have coriander, oregano, thyme & flat leaved parsley. 

I also plan to put a small rose climber on the trellis in the middle just to add something beautiful to a somewhat ugly shelf!

The rest of the shelf space is awaiting some new & unusuals! I have some lemon balm seeds & I think I might try some medicinal herbs too.

I've been told that mint is best grown in a pot since it spreads everywhere, but I've never had luck with this - its always straggly & doesn't live to give me much harvest. I'm having the same problem this year with it - it just isn't happy in a pot! But it dosen't have much choice! So it may be a mintless summer!

After this project I've discovered you can do anything with junk! Even random concrete blocks! haha! I have a feeling there will be a gradual increase in pots & decrease in paths soon!!

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