Build a Green Living, Cheap, No-Work Herb Bed

The wonderful taste and fragrance of herbs in irresistible, but buying them already cut in the store can present many problems, including the prohibitive cost. Growing herbs for cooking is the best solution, but even that isn't always easy. Herbs kept in pots often don't do very well, and many spread and go to seed, so planting them in the conventional veggie garden isn't always recommended. The best solution is to plant an dedicated herb bed, not far from the kitchen door, where fresh herbs will always be available for cooking and making tea and generally enjoying.

Raised beds and shaped flower beds can seem like pretty expensive endeavors when built in the conventional way, using store bought weed barrier and blocks from the garden center. The method described in this article uses recycled materials that may otherwise be headed for the trash, to produce good results for little cost. The materials that will have to be collected include a big pile of newspapers, not the shiny kind, with soy based ink. Bricks from old buildings, railroad ties, mason blocks, and logs are all good materials for building the borders of the herb garden. When finding materials, it's best to keep an eye on Craigslist and Freecycle, keep an open mind, and practice some creativity. Also, the bed should be filled with good planting material, so if there's no access to good compost and topsoil close by, those things will have to be purchased.

It's easy to put in a shaped planting bed. The grass should be killed in some way to help keep the bed weed free and easier to maintain in the future. This can be done by laying down black plastic the season before, to smother the grass and allow it and the roots to rot, or the sod can be dug out and flipped upside down piece by piece. The first option is easier, but a lot less physical work than the second. Once the bed is bare, sections of newspaper 6-10 sheets thick should be laid down as a weed barrier. These should be overlapped to ensure good coverage, and can be wet down to keep them in place.

After the newspaper has been layered on the ground, the border should be put into place. When I dug my herb bed, I used recycled bricks as the border, and so dug a trench for the first row to lie in, and built upon that. Bricks can also be lain in a trench standing on end to form a border. Depending on the border material, a trench may not be needed, but the finished border should be sturdy and firm.

When the border is in place, the bed should be filled with topsoil mixed with aged manure or compost. Mixed well and spread into the bed, this will be the dirt into which the seeds are sown or the transplants planted. Another layer of newspaper should be spread out and wet down to hold it in place and make it easier to work with. The plants are planted through the newspaper just by cutting an X in it and folding back the paper, then planting in the dirt through the hole.

The last step after all the herbs have been planted is to mulch thickly around all of them. This will keep the herbs watered by holding in moisture to the dirt and will produce an herb bed that's practically weed and work free. All that will be left to do will be to clip and enjoy fresh herbs!