the essentials in brief
- Herbs in the kitchen can be grown in tins, in the mini greenhouse, in a gutter or even vertically
- Herbs do well indoors, provided they get enough light
Herb garden for the kitchen - ideas collection
An indoor herb garden goes way beyond practical use. Creative home gardeners do not miss the opportunity to imaginatively present home-grown herbal treasures. Do-it-yourselfers screw, hammer and saw to their hearts' content to create a DIY kitchen garden. Herbalists with two left thumbs buy a stylish design variant. The following overview would like to inspire you with ideas and examples so that your new herb garden does not have to eke out a cinderella existence in the kitchen:
also read
- So you can create a herb garden on the balcony
- Create a beautiful herb garden - ideas, examples and lots of tips
- The right way to create a herb garden - instructions to make yourself
| DIY | idea | to buy | Purchasing sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant box | build from pallets | Mini greenhouse | Garden center, Amazon, Ebay |
| shelf | from wooden boards | Herbal staircase | Ikea, Obi, Dehner etc. |
| Food cans | paint, paste | Wall garden from plant bags | Amazon, Ebay, Baldur, garden shops |
| Gutter | convert to a plant box | Flower box (€ 13.19 at Amazon *) with trellis | Hardware store, garden center, online shops |
| vertical herb garden | Wall grille with pots / baskets | Herb tower | Amazon, Bakker, Dehner, Proidee |
Before you buy new, ready-to-use plant pots for kitchen herbs, go through the house with your eyes open. Disused household items slumber in the basement or in the attic, which are suitable for a second life as a small herb garden. Antique wash bowls, rustic wooden tubs or old mason jars showcase your favorite herbs in a trendy vintage style. The pockets of grandmother's kitchen apron act as perky plant bags for dwarf thyme, mini sage, parsley and Co. A discarded stepladder is useful as a decorative herb staircase.
Digression
Trend-setting indoor herb garden from Bosch
Under the heading 'SmartGrow', Bosch is setting new standards for the indoor cultivation of herbs. Designed as a hydroponic planter, the innovation lets your herbs thrive even when you are on vacation. The herb garden in mini format comes with space for six seed pods. You are spoiled for choice among more than 50 types of herbs that germinate without soil and thrive in abundance. A patented light and irrigation system takes care of maintenance. (58.53 € at Amazon *) So much carefree luxury has its price, because the future-oriented herb garden for the kitchen costs a whopping 249 euros. Other well-known manufacturers offer modern cultivation systems for aromatic herbs in the kitchen. These include the chic Click & Grow herb garden set by Emsa (from 99,90 euros) or a modern GrowIt-Flex-Smart Indoor Garden from Klarstein (from 68 euros).Using the kitchen wall as a growing area - tips & tricks
An active radiator under the windowsill is pure poison for a herb garden. In combination with direct sunlight, short-term temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius arise and cause the plants to languish. You can turn off the heating and freeze in your kitchen, or you can use a wall as a growing area. We have put together a colorful array of creative options for a vertical herb garden in the kitchen for you:
- edible wall : buy carpets with plant pockets made of breathable material or sew them yourself
- Wall shelf : screw wooden boards on top of each other and equip with herb pots
- Hanging garden : plant hanging baskets with herbs, hang up on hooks or ceiling rails on several levels
- Upcycling version : cut open the side of old PET bottles, plant herbs, attach to the wall
Are you in the mood for a spectacular vertical herb garden for the kitchen? Then consider the original Green Wall. It is a wall construction made of a frame with a wooden plate, which is covered with pond liner and plant fleece. A collecting vessel is placed on the floor to collect any runoff water. In the luxury version, a pump system complements the wall garden for automatic irrigation. The Flowercompany in Innsbruck created the magnificent vertical garden in their business premises using the DIY method and documented the work step by step. Herbs, succulents and flowering plants with edible flowers are equally suitable for planting.
Tips
First of all, basil from the supermarket wilts when home gardeners create an herb garden for the kitchen. The young plants are crammed into much too narrow pots with unsuitable substrate during cultivation, carelessly cared for on the store shelf at unfriendly and cool temperatures. The premium herbs last longer inside if you split the root ball quickly and expertly repot each section in a nutrient-rich, organic substrate.
Let there be light - herb garden with lighting
The secret to the success of luscious green herbs from the kitchen garden is additional light. If sage, chives or dill fade and shrink inside after a short time, the herbal treasures mostly suffer from a lack of light. Since there is a shortage of life-giving daylight in winter, even plants on the south window sill fall victim to the dilemma. We owe ingenious tinkerers to ingenious planters with built-in lighting for the perfect indoor herb farm with guaranteed growth. The following product selection provides an insight into the diverse range of products for every budget:
- Mini herb garden for the windowsill with LED lighting from Romberg from 34.99 euros
- narrow, white shelf for 3 herb pots and 14 watt lighting from Shada from 42.90 euros
- Small herb garden with height-adjustable plant lamp for 3 purchased herb pots from Proventa from 54.90 euros
- Mobile plant lamp to attach to box, pot and window sill from Lediary from 9.38 euros
With a little imagination and craftsmanship, you can make an illuminated mini herb garden for the kitchen yourself. You can conjure up a productive herb garden for the kitchen from a conventional shelf by simply installing the lighting underneath the next higher shelf. The lighting for plant boxes and pots on the window sill is simply hung on the curtain rod. It is important to note that there is an adequate distance between the light source and herbal plants of 20 to 30 centimeters. Please buy special LED grow lights that generate little waste heat. This saves the electricity bill, guarantees an ideal beam angle and does not let the local temperatures soar.
Planting ideas for boxes and traffic lights
Which herbs you grow in the kitchen garden depends on your personal taste and the space available. Almost all types of herbs come to terms with a life behind glass if the framework conditions are right. The following table names tried-and-tested types of herbs by name for a carefree cultivation in the box and tub on the windowsill or hanging in the traffic light:
| stand upright | botanical name | hanging / climbing | botanical name |
|---|---|---|---|
| cress | Lepidium sativum | Lemon Thyme | Thymus herba-barona v. citriodorus |
| chives | Allium schoenoprasum | Bachbunge | Veronica beccabunga |
| parsley | Petroselinum crispum | Capuchin cress | Tropaeolum minus |
| Thai basil | Ocimum basilicum var. Thyrsiflorum | Creeping parsley | Apium repens |
| dill | Anethum graveolens | Ice herb | Mesembryanthemum crystallinum |
| oregano | Origanum heracleoticum | Glacier diamond | Artemisia glacialis |
| Dwarf sage | Salvia officinalis 'Nana' | Lavender Thyme | Thymus thracicus |
| Dwarf thyme | Thymus vulgaris 'Compactus' | Caribbean mint | Micromeria brownei |
Your favorites for the kitchen herb garden won't let you down when you pull the plants from seeds yourself. Pre-grown herbs from garden centers, hardware stores or supermarkets are often affected by improper care, poor lighting and temperatures that are too low. You can avoid this shortcoming by buying certified seeds, sowing them from the end of February and caring for them with a loving hand.
Youtubefrequently asked Questions
Which herbs have the best chance of surviving the winter on the kitchen window?
The winter lack of light and dry heating air push most herbs to their limits. Numerous classics such as basil, dill or chives are mostly left behind. Good prospects for a winter herb harvest promise shade-friendly survivors, such as Vietnamese coriander (Polygonum odoratum) and Jamaica thyme (Coleus amboinicus). You don't have to do without homemade garlic butter, even in winter, when evergreen garlic garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) adorns the herb garden in the kitchen.
Can you buy a herb spiral that is small enough for the kitchen?
The dream of a herb spiral for the kitchen is within your grasp if you accept a few modifications. As a traditional spiral with wood, metal or natural stone as a border, the herb snail is not suitable for the kitchen. For a kitchen-friendly herb garden, the specialist trade has attractive solutions ready, such as a herb pot with 3 levels from Plantpak. The Waldbeck Herbie herb garden made of PP twin-wall sheets with 8 lateral plant shafts for your favorite herbs is a decorative alternative to the herb spiral for a large kitchen.
I would like to plant my herb garden in the kitchen in individual pots on the windowsill. Which pot size is recommended?
To start with, we recommend pots with a diameter of at least 12 centimeters. A little bigger too. If a herb plant has completely rooted the container after a while, repot in a pot with a volume of 2 to 4 liters, depending on the type and variety.
Tips
Clever home gardeners simply let herbs in the kitchen decide for themselves when and how much water they need. Plant the herb garden on the windowsill in the box or pot with self-watering. There are small hydro-pads between a water reservoir in the bottom of the vessel and the herb plants. A pad soaks up water and offers it to the herbs, which are only used when they are actually needed. A complete set including water level indicator and space for 3 herbs is available for less than 10 euros.
