Several readers have asked questions about herbs this past week. Fall is a great time to plant a number of herbs, and several herb-related events are coming up. Herbs need good drainage.
Good sunlight encourages good development of the oils in the leaves.
It is these essential oils that give the herbs flavor and fragrance. You can design an herb garden as an element in your landscape or you can plant individual herbs among shrubs, flowering annuals and perennials. One of the most frequently used designs in herb gardening is the knot garden, a somewhat formal style that often uses low hedges of fragrant evergreens such as germander, santolina or boxwood around geometric patterns. Herbs also are attractive along a walkway, in kitchen window boxes, as topiaries in terra cotta pots or bordering a bed of old roses. Southernwood, for example, is an especially attractive border.