Growing Herb Rock Gardens • 02.18.10
When I was a kid, I lived out in a rural area and we only had clay soil once you dug about 6 or 12 inches down. When youre planning your garden, you have got to put sun and soil quality at the top of the list of things to consider. Without the right amounts of both sun and water, your garden wont grow. With the right combination of water, soil and sunlight, you can raise just about anything.
To solve my clay dirt problems, I turned to rock gardening, which focuses on adding lots of rocks to your landscape and focusing on plants that only need a few inches of good dirt.
If youve got a similar situation, you can grow your own rock garden. Some herbs truly love the rocky craggy sod that you can find in areas like this all over the world. With good drainage, adequate sun and all the nooks and crannies around the rocks where roots can dig in, rock gardens may be just the thing for you to try your hand at.
When planning your herb garden, be sure that you are choosing herbs that will stay compact, because with limited room you do not want anything taking over. Another tip is to look for herb plants with silver or gray leaves. This is a big tip-off that these plants will do well in that type of environment.
- Hen-and-Chicks: {I cant imagine cutting open a hen or chick and rubbing it on a wart, but this perennial succulent herb, which is also known as St. Patricks cabbage, has a long history of healing them.} The leaves of this plant store water for periods of drought. Your hen can get up to 4 inches across pretty fast. Soon little off-shoots, or chicks, can sprout up from the edges of your hen. In the summer, a 9 inch spike arises from the center of each mature hen to display pinkish-red blooms. Before you know it, you will have a colony of herbs.
- Wild Oregano: This perennial from the Mediterranean region can grow energetically up to 30 inches tall with its oval leaves and purple flowers that come out late in the summer. Although you certainly may eat this variety of oregano, it will not quite be the same as the Greek oregano you are familiar with from Italian dinners.
- Marjoram: It is wonderful when you can sculpt a lovely rock garden using culinary herb plants like Marjoram. Its a perennial that has a delicate scent with oval gray-green leaves and tiny white flowers. For marjoram to retain its shape and form, keep it pinched back (use the clippings in your Italian dinners) so that it will keep growing wellfull sun and the good drainage in your rock garden can help too.
- Thyme: The shiny, little leaves of the thyme plant are clustered along woody stems that are adorned with many white or pink flowers and grows to a height of up to a foot. Thyme grows best when the soil is sandy, well-drained and gets a whole lot of sunlight. Thyme has a tendency to grow wild, so keep it pinched back to maintain its compact shape.
Part of the wonder of rock gardens is the contrast of the hard rocks and the soft plants. The difference in colors also helps in achieving a sense of the beautiful. You can even use aromatic and culinary herb plants in your rock garden, which will give you all the benefits of a regular herb garden.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Herb Garden Designs. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.

