Natural Stone Essex

Formal Herb Gardens
The formal herb garden designed and grown correctly could well be the pinnacle of herb gardening! The best types of gardens in many cases are found around the grounds of stately homes and mansions. They were originally made to be looked down upon from the top terraces or floors of those grand homes. The main options that come with such gardens are meticulous and time consuming hedges and topiaries layered in designs reflecting the geometric world. In the hands of the true garden artist, wheels, perfect circles and all manner of shapes are modelled and crafted to create breathtaking pieces of living artwork.
Formal herb gardens should consist of finely cut edges and hedges, well defined lines, low walls, and should always incorporate a centrepiece like a statue, sundial or fountain to create a strong focal point.
Rock Gardens
Simply because they grow well in confined spaces and are more tolerant of fluctuating water levels in their soil, many herbs are ideal candidates for a Rock Garden. This type of garden requires additional work however in the area of pruning and control of the herb plants growth, because of the fact that a few of the more vigorous herbs out there can attempt to take over your garden! You should try and find rocks for your rockery that appear to be natural as well as stack and lay together within their original environment. The best rockery’s look as though they are naturally there with the house built around it! Some herbs that are ideal for a Rock Garden are Betony, Bugle, Chives, Columbine, Thyme, Lavender, Creeping Rosemary and Yarrow.
Cottage Gardens
The concept for a Cottage plants seems like a big mess however , it’s a carefully considered, planned relationship of a mixture of herbs, fruit trees, shrubs and perennials in a delightful blend of colours and textures which looks great throughout the year.
Topiary
Topiaries are the “artist’s herb garden”. Creating topiary demands patience, hard work and almost constant pruning and shaping of the herb plants to produce such shapes as pyramids, arches, balls and pillars. Some gardens even have buildings and animals appear as a result of these gifted craftsmen.
There are two main ways to produce these structures. Train the plant from an earlier age by pruning and staking or result in the framework of your chosen design out of metal or wire and grow the guarana plant over the structure, pruning it into its new shape over time. Some good herbs to use for these kinds of gardens are ivy, honeysuckle, mint, bay laurel, cypress, buxus and lavender to mention but a few. The important thing to achieving a great topiary is frequent pruning. It may be impossible to return an overgrown topiary to its original form.
Hedges
The concept of hedge herb gardens really deserves its article because of the many different forms they can take. The important thing in a hedge herb garden though are to maintain them well pruned and manicured, grow the hedge to have a slight taper all the way through to permitting good light to the bottom of the hedge and ensure that the distance between hedging plants is fewer than half from the intended height of the hedge. It’s also a good idea to keep several extra potted, growing plants of the identical type as your hedge to permit for replanting of dead areas of the hedge.
Perennial Border
A perennial border is usually made with herbs for example mint, lemon balm, bergamot, fennel, angelica along with other like herbs. It’s a great concept because within the warmer months once the herbs have been in full flight, they spread and fill their garden bed with colour and fragrance. Then when the cooler months set in, they die back to their root systems leaving a bare strip that creates a far more spacious appearance.
Xeriscape gardens
Xeriscape gardens are perfect for those gardeners facing the tragic burden of water restrictions! A xeriscape is understood to be a created specifically garden containing plants with similar water requirements. Many herbs fall into the category of a low water, drought resistant xeriscape and most culinary herbs can in fact be successfully grown in areas only obtaining a paltry 1cm of water per week!
You can identify herbs which will do well during these conditions by their leaves and also roots. Those herbs with small silvery coloured leaves, long tap root systems as well as herbs originating from the hot dry regions from the Mediterranean will all thrive in a xeriscape garden. These gardens would be best watered infrequently, but deeply, to encourage deep root growth. A great tip would be to not water these plants when they look strong and vigorous. If they don’t seem to recover when the heat during the day has gone, then it’s time to provide them with a glass or two! Great herbs in a xeriscape are Artemisia, Betony, Catnip, Chamomile, Jerusalem, Marjoram, Rosemary, Thyme and Yarrow but there are lots of more.
This brings us to the end of our introduction to some of the most popular types and designs for herb gardens.
Pick one that best suits you, your environment as well as your surroundings or just create your own! The choice is yours!
I have enjoyed the relaxing and fulfilling my hobby of growing herbs at home for years. Nothing beats the fresh taste of home grown herbs compared to bought ones and whether you reside on the farm, within an apartment, or any place in between, there is room for a home plants at your place.