Planting a container herb garden provides advantages that cannot be achieved through growing herbs in your garden. Container herb gardening provides the mobility necessary to protect your herbs from harsh outdoor weather and seasonal conditions, as well as predatory animals and insects. You will enjoy cultivating your herbs year-round in a more stable and forgiving environment than can be achieved through outdoor planting.

Selecting the right plants is the first step to successful container herb gardening. Other key factors to success include providing good, rich soil and controlling moisture and nutrients. Whether these factors are provided by nature or adjusted artificially, they are the key elements to your success.

If you'd like to try a herb container garden, there are a variety of herbs that can be grown in pots of all shapes and sizes. A small clay pot can do the job for thyme, while rosemary can be grown in a coffee can and basil in an old teapot. You can grow mint, sage, dill and even lavender in containers.

The most important item to consider are your seeds; seeds must be of good quality and in good condition- remember like any organic substance they are subject to decay. Airborne spores may also contaminate seeds, and oxygen reacts with compounds in the seed. Safeguard against problems with your seeds by following the freshness dates on packages and avoid using any damp packages.

You should choose a good location for your container herb garden. Some plants like direct sunlight, other will do great in the shade. For example basil needs warm soil and dry air, and is cold sensitive. When placing it near a window to get sun, it shouldn't be an area that frosts in the winter.

Sunlight enters our homes in different angles based on our geographic location. In most areas of the Northern Hemisphere the sunlight enters from the south. Plants that need maximum or full sun exposure should be placed in the southern areas of your home. Plants that need partial shade should be place in the northern areas of your home or in shady areas.

Prepare the soil as directed and maintain the desired level of moisture. A trick for keeping soil moist is to add clay chips to the pot, but clay may hold water for extended periods of time- the reason that clay soil should be mixed with sandy soil. One plant that does well in dry, alkaline soil is lavender.

It is very important that you water your herb garden correctly. Container plants often suffer from root rot because of excessive moisture. While some plants like to be moist all the time, herb plants need for their soil to be more dry. However, some herbs, such as peppermint, like moist soil.

Remember that to be moist is not to be soaked. Moist soil should feel springy, while dry soil is hard. Next, you can use a toothpick or a moisture gauge to stick in the soil. When you remove the toothpick you will be able to tell if the soil is wet or dry. The gauge's reading will be more useful and more precise, though.

If you take care with planning your container herb garden, you will discover that these plants are simple to grow and manage.