A Mini Herb Garden For You Grow This Spring With Fun DIY Pots
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite tasks was going out to my mom’s patio garden and picking herbs for her. She’d grow basil, mint, and parsley for homemade meals, which always made this picky-eater more excited about dinner time. And sometimes my friends and I would steal the herbs and make love potions, I mean, what little girl didn’t do that?
I decided to make a litter herb garden for myself, and not to make love-potions (I think mine worked) but to spice up a few meals and save money on those pricey packaged herbs from the grocery store. When we move, I’ll be planting my herbs in a raised garden bed, but when you live in a townhome, it’s a lot easier to plant herbs in pots for easy access. I loved how my potted herbs turned out, and I hope it inspires you to plant a few of your own!
You don’t have to plant your herbs in fancy painted pots, but I loved the way they looked back when I was going for a more farmhouse feel with my decor. I believe I saw a similar herb pot at Target at the time and refused to pay full-price. I mean, what would Joanna Gaines do? (well, she’s rich so probably would have just purchased it.) I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up paints, Home Depot for the herbs, pots, and soil, and got to work! You can visit a local nursery for your herbs, but mine didn’t have any organic selection, so I opted for the Home Depot.
If you want a quick and simple project, you can skip painting the pots.
I bought a selection of pots for my herbs, and they were pretty inexpensive.
What I bought:
*Organic Herbs
*Strawberry Plant
*Tomato Plant
*Natures Care Organic Garden Soil
*Paints (Purchase a non-toxic paint! I regret not doing this)
*Stencils
*Sharpie Markers
It was so cute because the little girls next door spent almost all afternoon helping me paint these pots. They were so interested in what I was doing, and it reminded me of myself when I was younger. Since I put the plants on my back porch, I told them they could cut pieces off anytime they wanted since they were such great helpers.
I painted the pots outside in my front yard and let them dry a few hours, I sprayed them down with the hose, and let them dry again.
When you purchase your herbs, make sure to keep the information card and transfer it to the herb’s new pot. The cards will help you identify the herb, and it’ll have the proper instructions for taking care of it. When it comes to watering (which doesn’t seem to be my strong suit), it’s pretty simple. If the soil feels dry to touch, it usually needs water. Basil does better when watered more frequently, but plants like lavender do much better with a dryer soil, and that’s why you should keep the info card in the pot until you have it memorized.
I put all of my herbs outside on my patio. For the herbs that needed full sun, I put them along the edge of my deck, and for the ones that needed partial sun, I placed them in the second row with my fence, giving them a bit more shade.
Growing Preferences for Herbs:
Basil – Full Sun, does well in moist soil ☀️💧
Mint – Full to Part Sun ☀️☁️
Parsley – Part Sun ☀️☁️
Thyme – Full Sun ☀️
Rosemary – Full Sun ☀️
Catnip – Full to Part Sun ☀️☁️
Chives – Full to Part Sun ☀️☁️
Lavender – Full Sun, grows better in dry soil ☀️🌵
Sage – Full Sun ☀️
Oregano – Full Sun ☀️
Lemon Balm – Full to Part Sun ☀️☁️
Potting Soil: I used Organic Miracle-Gro Nature’s Care Garden Soil.
After planting the soil and herbs into the pots, I made a cup of coffee and started stenciling. I learned quickly that a Sharpie marker was much easier than stenciling with paint.
The best part is if you mess up, you can just paint right over the marker. I may have done this once or twice.
Sticking the plant identification card into the soil after potting will help you when it comes to stenciling the right pot. Even if you don’t plan on labeling or painting the pots, you should still hold onto that card.
It was so exciting when my very first strawberry grew! It was so tiny, but the best reward.
They turned out so cute! This could also be a great gift idea for someone as a housewarming gift.
There’s nothing better than growing your herbs and produce. I cannot wait to fill my raised garden beds with fresh herbs, berries, and vegetables! My dad is the king of vegetable gardens, so I’ll be using his expertise!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial ♥️ If you have any fun gardening projects you’ve done recently, make sure to tag me in them! I love all things garden lately.
Questions for you!
- What was the last thing you planted?
- Do you have an herb garden?
- What is your FAVORITE herb?
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
This is cute! It’s impossible to have a full-on garden since I live in a city, but this could be a nice project! I don’t even remember the last thing I planted! 😛
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Taralynn McNitt says
A perfect garden for a city!
Kelli says
Where are the stencils from? So cute
Taralynn McNitt says
Hobby Lobby 😊
Alissa @ PositiviTEA says
Beautiful post/pictures! Love everything here.
The last thing I planted was probably sunflowers. They didn’t grow much, because I kept forgetting (whoops!), but I actually grew up planting with my grandma and absolutely loved it. I don’t have an herb garden yet, but plan to create one when we buy a home! My favorite herb, though, is probably cilantro! Or oregano. Hmm. I guess that’s the full-blooded Italian in me 😂
Taralynn McNitt says
Haha, I’ve SO done that before! 😂
I can’t do cilantro, but sign me up for oregano!!
Kristin says
I just sent this to my husband. I want to do it! We did jalapenos and red peppers last year and I have seeds ready to go again for this year!
Taralynn McNitt says
Ahhh Jalapenos would be perfect for this!!!!
Paige Cassandra Flamm says
This is such a fun idea! I totally want to try this!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Paige 😃
Stefanie Nordstrom says
I love this! Simple and cute idea. I just pinned it for later. Here in MN it’s hard (but exciting) to start thinking about herb gardens with a couple of feet of snow still on the ground. I like the idea of making these a housewarming gift. I would also say it could be a fun group fundraiser – to make these together with the group would be a fun activity! Thanks for sharing!
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Stefanie!
Yikes, don’t know how you do it! No way I could ever live in the midwest again. I love my four seasons, but I need the winter to be mild and quick lol
Ahhh such a fun group idea, maybe some fun designs on the pots, too!
Hayley says
I look so forward to reading your blogs!!! I actually got my very first plant (a succulent) a few weeks ago and its still alive – gonna move up once I (hopefully) keep this alive and look forward to coming back to this blog post in the future!
Also just curious as I love the idea of painting my own pots – did one coat do the trick? Thanks so much!!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Hayley!
Thanks so much 😃
Lol love your dedication in keeping the succulent alive!!! 😊
I did spray paint and then touched up some areas that needed extra coverage! 😊
Taryn says
Such a cute idea! Gardens make me nervous I always feel like I’m gonna mess it up lol. I really want to try though!!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hahaha! I used to feel the same way. The only thing most people do to mess it up is forgetting to water it! you got this!
Rose says
Hi Tara! Cool to see you getting into gardening, I’m a garden/landscape architect. I adore sage and thyme! Last thing planted : a baobab seed a friend brought from africa. For your future garden outside I would advice you to keep it 100% organic, rich soillife is what you want for epic produce. Chemical pestremovers are poison for your soil (micro organisms etc) and plants..also and don’t let any brands fool you with vague terms such as ‘natural’, use certified stuff only. Also so many gardening additions are just invented to make money off people. I wish you the best of luck with it! You might love this free book website, cool gardening stuff : https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Vegetable+garden Btw I love you in those Amazon gardening overalls, epic outfit. Have a nice day! Love from Europe
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Rose!
Thank you for all the advice and i’ll check out that book!!
XO XO
Sarah says
Love this! We bought a house last year and made an above ground garden since we live on a hill and it did amazingly last year! I can’t wait for Spring to come and plant this years garden! It’s become one of my favorite hobbies and I’m low key jealous you are able to plant already! Basil is definitely my favorite herb and made caprese salad all the time last year! I planted spearmint for the first time last year as well and was amazed at how much it grew and kind of took over my garden, definitely using a pot for mint this year! I can’t wait to see your garden at the new house!
Taralynn McNitt says
Spring will be here soon enough!
I bet that fresh basil is so amazing with your caprese!!
Harriet says
So Awesome. I just let my herb plants run wild in the vegetable garden, also herb flowers are so pretty. my favourite herb is rosemary, I love how versatile it is for savoury and sweet dishes.
Taralynn McNitt says
Rosemary is my favorite too!!
Jessie says
I started a raised garden last year and loved it I can not wait to get it going again .
I love your pots .
Emily says
I love to garden!!! You planted a wonderful selection of herbs, what do you use your lemon balm for?
Taralynn McNitt says
I used it as a garnish, put it in my tea, and sometimes my lemonade!
Taylor says
I would like to do this with my new downtime, but I live in Ohio. Do I need to bring these in, in the cold temperatures? I don’t want to get bugs. Are The strawberries outside? I believe you live in a warmer climate correct?
Taralynn McNitt says
The strawberries are outside in full sun! I’d start this early summer since you live in Ohio. That way you can keep them outside and not worry about bringing any bugs into the house.