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Best Herbs for Small Gardens

November 14, 2018 by Jeanne

The best herbs for small gardens can be both annual and perennial herbs. The trick is to find herbs that have an upright, compact growing habit.

Best Herbs for Small Gardens

Herbs are useful plants that can be grown for flavor, medicine, or both. Most herbs that are good for small gardens feature a compact and upright growing habit.

Plants are often described as “upright” or “prostrate.” An upright plant grows towards the sky, as the name suggests, without much sprawl. “Prostrate” or “creeping” plants remain low to the ground.

My Little Herb Garden

Here’s a picture to illustrate what I mean. This is my herb garden. I have a small, circular pond in it with four paving stones arranged decoratively around the pond. Between the stones, I have planted two types of thyme: creeping and upright.

best herbs for small gardens
The best herbs for small gardens tend to be upright. Cat not included.

These two thyme varieties are both interchangeable in culinary dishes. Sprinkle creeping thyme onto pasta or upright thyme and you can’t tell the difference.

But note the growth habit. The upright thyme (with the white flowers) takes up much less room than the prostrate or creeping thyme. The creeping thyme spreads so vigorously in a thick mat that I have to cut it back several times a year. It’s so aggressive it will even spill over the lip of the pond and set down roots in the mud at the bottom of my shallow pond.

Look for Upright Compact Herbs

For small herb gardens, you’ll want to find plants that stay small. I happen to love basil and with plenty of pruning, a small basil plant works quite well in a small herb garden.

There are over a dozen varieties of basil, too, so don’t limit yourself to the sweet basil most often found in the garden center. Genovese or sweet basil offers plenty of culinary and medicinal uses, but there are lime basils, lemon basils, and cinnamon basil, which I have grown for teas. All are available to start from seed; you can find seeds from major catalogs such as Parks or Burpee as well as smaller, local growers.

Cinnamon basil
Cinnamon basil tastes like an infusion of the two herbs. Although it grows to about 1-2 feet tall, it retains a compact shape, making it good for small gardens.
Genovese basil for small herb gardens.
Genovese or sweet basil.

When planning your herbs for small gardens, be sure to plan for an area that receives full sunlight. Some herbs, such as oregano and the mints, can withstand shade or partial sun, but they do spread out vigorously and are not well-suited to small gardens.

Other herbs for small gardens include:

  • Basil – all varieties
  • Rosemary
  • Parsley – both curly and flat leaf varieties
  • Chives – onion chives, garlic chives
  • Tarragon
  • Savory

All of these plants make great kitchen windowsill herbs, too.

Whether you are growing herbs in pots or containers, a small garden or an area like my little area near the pond, think tall, think upright, and think compact when choosing your herbs for small gardens.

Grow Herbs Indoors

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You can also grow herbs indoors. This lets anyone – in an apartment, a condo, wherever – grow fresh, tasty herbs.

I offer an online class called Easy Indoor Herb Gardening to teach you how to grow herbs inside. Check it out!

It’s a great way to maximize your space if your backyard is tiny but you love the taste of fresh herbs!

This post was originally written in 2018. It was updated February 2022 with new text, images, and links.

Jeanne
Jeanne

Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.

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Filed Under: Growing Herbs Tagged With: herbs, indoor herbs, small gardens

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writer Jeanne Grunert

Hi, I'm Jeanne Grunert, master gardener, gardening book author, herbalist, and writer. If you're new to gardening, welcome! I make it simple and easy for you to grow a gorgeous garden and cook with the fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs that you grow.

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