Transform Your Earth Tower Vertical Garden Into A Marvelous Fragrant Mass of Herbs To Delight Your Eyes, Nose and Mouth!

Imagine having to reach no further than your Earth Tower for the crucial ingredients of a gourmet meal or minted ice tea! You’ll also enjoy using herbs in sachets, potpourris and sweet-scented bouquets.

 

Herbs such as thyme, rosemary and lavender are natural trailers so leave plenty of room for them to spread and hang. 

 

Others that start out upright but eventually spread and trail include: basil, marjoram, sage, oregano, some varieties of parsley as well as the many scented geraniums. Pinch these frequently to enjoy their flavors and scents and to keep them in bounds.

 

Herbs that maintain their upright growth include chives and mints. Mints are notorious spreaders. If you want to prevent them from taking over the whole garden, it’s a good idea to plant them inside a two-inch pot and then sink this into the planting row.

 

Some of the larger-growing herbs, such as dill, cannot be raised to flowering size, but their edible leaves are always welcome.

 

Herbs will respond to your Earth Tower’s good drainage. They do, however, require less than the average amount of fertilizer. Using the constant-feeding system (described in the “Plant Food” page) dilute fertilizer solution even further. Instead of using 1/4 of the plant food recommended by the manufacturer, feed 1/8 of recommended dosage.

 

If you are raising hungrier plants on another surface of the garden, you might mix some of the slow-release fertilizer pellets into the soil around these, or water those rows directly with the fertilizer solution between normal waterings.

 

Most herbs are sun-lovers and should receive at least five hours of light daily. Even indoors, they will grow in a sunny window. During the summer, shade the window during the intense midday glare, or move the garden to a more sheltered spot. Also, see the “Light” page regarding vertical grow-lights. A few herbs, such as sweet woodruff, lemon balm and the mints will grow in good strong light with no direct sun at all.

 

If your herb-growing Earth Tower is outdoors, try bringing it indoors for the winter. You’ll be double appreciative of its treasures when the snow is on the ground outside!

 

TO PLANT YOUR HERBS

 

Most of the herbs we recommend can be grown from seed; some from cuttings or divisions; some from all three. Most can be purchased as well-developed young plants in early spring, and will give you a head start in establishing your garden. As we have indicated, most will spread out quite a bit, so don’t crowd them. Find out which herbs your friends grow, and try to exchange some cuttings or divisions with them. That’s part of the fun of gardening, after all!

 

PRESERVING HERBS

 

Herbs do have a tendency to grow in leaps and bounds! Save them for a future day by drying or freezing them and/or making up savory herb butters and herb jellies. For detailed instructions, see: HOMEGROWN HERBS: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO GROWING, USING AND ENJOYING MORE THAN 100 HERBS by Tammi Hartung.

 

 

FOR A PDF REFERENCE CHART OF HERBS RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR EARTH TOWER GARDEN,

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