Nothing makes a meal taste fresher than using herbs and vegetables straight out of your garden. And now is a great time to plant. But, if you are new to herb gardening, you might not realize that where you plant them can make or break your success. Yep! Right plant, right place is very important when installing herbs in the landscape.
Sunlight
The first thing to consider is sunlight. Most of our herbs enjoy full sun, but parsley does best in a little shade. It’s a biennial herb, which means it completes its life cycle in two years. However, it is typically grown as a cool season annual in Florida.
Raised Beds
Perhaps you have heard that growing herbs with your vegetables in a raised bed is the way to go. It is true that you should grow herbs and flowering plants near your vegetables. They lure pollinators as well as predator insects that eat the aphids and spider mites that attack your crops. But the water needs and the life cycle of the herbs need to be considered before putting them in the raised bed. If the herb is a perennial and you hope to get a few years of use out of it, I would not plant it in your raised beds. This is because over time the soil in your raised bed will settle and you’ll need to add additional compost or media. This will be difficult to do with a perennial like sage growing in your bed. Also, research recommends that you solarize your raised beds during the hottest part of the summer to kill weed seeds and soil nematodes. To solarize the bed, place a clear plastic cover over the entire bed and leave it for a few weeks. You would need to dig up and move perennials like chives before you do this. Planting annual herbs such as dill in a raised bed would be fine because they will be nearing the end of their productivity by the time summer arrives.
Water
Dill and basil are both good choices for the raised bed because of their water requirements. They like even moisture just like your veggies. However, if basil stays moist for long periods of time and is crowded in the bed with poor air circulation, it is very susceptible to a fungal disease called downy mildew. You might notice yellow splotches between the veins on the top of the leaves, while the undersides develop grey spores. Fortunately, Dr. David Clark, a plant breeder at the University of Florida, developed a downy mildew resistant variety called ‘Amazel’ basil. It’s important to note that it is a sterile variety. If you care more about saving seeds for next year than you do about disease resistance, that is not the variety for you.
Mediterranean Herbs
Herbs that like drier conditions will do better in a bed by themselves, in containers, or even planted right in the landscape near other drought tolerant plants. Lavender, thyme, oregano, and rosemary are all native to the Mediterranean and drought tolerant. Lavender, oregano, and thyme would make a great looking edible container garden. The lavender for the “thriller”, oregano for the “filler” and thyme growing over the edge as the “spiller.” Use rosemary as a landscape shrub. It can get up to 6’ tall and develop woody stems. Be sure to protect rosemary in times of frost as it can be a bit tender.
Putting the right plant in the right place is the first principle of Florida-Friendly Landscaping. And it applies to the vegetable garden just as much as it does the rest of your landscape.
4
