Cultivate your favourite spices in a corner of your compound or balcony

Let’s face it, it does not get any fresher than having a herb garden right in your compound. Imagine stepping into your garden to pick some fresh basil, curry leaves, chillies or pandan while cooking for the family. Our tropical climate is also conducive to cultivating herb gardens.  

Hardly used spaces or corners in your garden can be transformed into a kitchen/herb garden, says Nicole van den Steenhoven of Bukit Kiara Properties. Before you go on a shopping spree to buy herbs, pots, soil and everything else you would need for a herb garden, it would be useful to read on.

Consider these facts before starting a herb garden:
• Check the area for your herb garden: How much light does it get? This will determine the types of herbs/vegetables you are able to plant successfully.

• How much space do you have? Measure the area and obtain plants sufficient for that space. A common mistake is buying too many plants for a small space. Check the mature size of the plants selected. Note: Even a tiny balcony can be used to grow herbs.

• Determine the types of herbs you want: Plant herbs you usually use for cooking, or even for cosmetic uses such as aloe vera. Make a list and a preferable layout plan before you start buying plants.

• How much time do you want to spend on your herb garden? Maintaining a herb garden requires a certain amount of experience and time. You need to find out what is the best fertiliser for your selected herbs/plants, how and when to prune/harvest them, how to control pest and diseases, and so on.

• Start small: It is advisable to start small, not on a big scale. Start with a small space. This way, you are able to harvest the herbs after a short time and not lose your enthusiasm. You would also want to be able to maintain the area in a neat and well-groomed manner. Record the time you need to spend on the patch and increase the space if you like.

Now that you have decided on starting a herb garden and where it would be located, take note of the following:

1. The plot you choose has to be easily accessible and close to your kitchen, so it would be easy to pick some herbs while cooking.

2. Set out the planting beds. Generally, they should not be wider than 1,400mm and easy to reach. To create a well-organised patch for your herbs and vegetables, align the beds with low hedges — a row of bricks or even create a planter box. Planter boxes will provide a convenient height, so you would not need to bend too much to pick the herbs. Use spray paint to paint the contours of the planting beds, or use a string, so you can dig within the marked areas and create neat and straight planting beds.

3. Place stepping stones on the paths between the beds, so you can pick your herbs without getting your shoes dirty. These stepping stones, available in many sizes and finishs at the garden centres, should be placed on a roughly 7cm layer of compacted sand.

4. Remove the top layer of the soil. This often contains weeds and stones, so it needs to be removed. Rotate existing soil, roughly 300mm deep, as this will improve water retention and drainage of the soil. Add a 150mm layer of soil mix on top. Soil mix: ½ coarse river sand, ½ topsoil or burnt soil, ¼ well-composted organic matter (do not use coco peat, as it could be too acidic).

5. You can now start planting. During dry weather, water the beds thoroughly before planting. Set out the selected herbs according to their requirements. Lemon grass, for example, is just a small plant you can buy from nurseries. However, it can grow to 600mm in diameter and easily outgrow other herbs. So it is important to check the mature size of the plants before you put them in the ground.

This article appeared in haven, Issue #37, June + July 2009, the deco and garden publication of The Edge Malaysia