Prepare the Site

• Careful site preparation smoothes the way for easier maintenance.Thomas Northcut/Lifesize/Getty Images
  
  Locate the herb garden within easy reach of the kitchen door for convenient snipping. An herb garden designed for aesthetic appeal will be most enjoyed viewed through an indoor window or from outdoor seating areas. Select a site that drains well and receives sun at least 6 hours per day. Mark out the site with beds narrow enough to reach every plant, or provide walkways. A neutral pH soil is acceptable. Test and adjust soil as necessary, remove weeds and improve the texture by digging in organic compost.
  
  

Annual Culinary Herbs

• Basil, marjoram and other herbsJupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Annual herbs may be purchased as bedding plants or grown from seed. Plant dill toward the back of the garden and deadhead to prevent pesky reseeding. Coriander, borage, basil, marjoram, chervil and anise are easy-to-grow annual herbs. Parsley, fennel and caraway are biennials, producing foliage one year and flowering and seeding the next. Parsley is attractive as a border. Plant enough of your favorite herbs for fresh and dried use.
  
  

Perennial Culinary Herbs

• Perennial chives flower beautifully in the herb garden.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Grow the small evergreen bay laurel tree as a foundation plant, or pot for overwintering indoors in colder areas. Egyptian onions produce small clusters of tiny onions atop thick, hollow chive-like stems for soups and cooked dishes. Grow creeping thyme as a border, and upright varieties in the bed. Oregano, French tarragon, rosemary and sage are perennial staples of the culinary herb bed. Mints are best kept separate from the main bed, as they are invasive. Keep mint contained in pots in the shade, along with shade loving and potentially invasive Sweet Woodruff.
  
  

Fragrant Herbs

• Wonderfully fragrant lavender has been a staple of the herb garden for centuries.Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Annual English and German chamomile flowers are dried for tea. Roman chamomile is a low-growing perennial with apple-scented foliage for sachets. The flowers may be used in tea. Lavender, lemon grass and lemon balm make wonderfully fragrant teas. Use them in sachets and potpourris. Lemongrass makes very good tea. Roses are edible flowers that are traditional features of the herb garden. Use roses to garnish desserts.
  
  

Using Herbs

• Plant enough of your favorite herbs for fresh and dried use. Hang clean, dry herbs upside down in paper bags in small bundles for one or two weeks. Coarsely chopped herbs may be frozen in water-filled ice cube trays for future use. Use the flowers of culinary herbs as garnish. Dry lavender and lemon balm and bundle into sachets to hang in closets, or wrap in cotton cloth packets for drawers. Include a potted aloe vera plant in the herb garden for treating minor kitchen burns.