Why Herbs Are The Perfect Type Of Plant To Grow If You Don't Have A Green Thumb
Growing a garden is something many people put on their to-do list or claim as their New Year resolution, but there are only some who actually get down in the dirt and start one. From the outside looking in, gardening can be quite intimidating. There's a lot to know not only about plants, but your local environment, too. Seasons, temperatures, soil materials and moisture levels, pH levels, and more all play a part, and it can be overwhelming trying to learn them all at once.
Starting slow and small is a great way to dip your toe into the world of gardening, but even then it can be hard to know what "small" is. Flowers, for example, are pretty and for the most part simple, but getting perennials to flower each year is a carefully curated skill. Crops like tomatoes and peppers are also simple to plant and grow, but still require some trial and error. With this said, perhaps the easiest plants to start a garden with — especially for a total beginner gardener — are herbs. Here's why.
They regrow quickly
For a few reasons, herbs are a good starter plant for the novice gardener, with one being how fast they regrow. If you've ever bought fresh herbs at the grocery store, you've likely seen both cut bundles and still planted herbs. They're sold like this because herbaceous plants tend to grow back incredibly quick. To compare, consider a commonly grown crop like squash. Though they have a high yield when harvested, squash only grow once. You then have to wait for the plant to decide to sprout another vegetable, and wait for it to mature and ripen.
Herbs, on the other hand, are made entirely of leaves. You don't need to wait for it to produce flowers and/or fruits, but simply replenish the leaves taken away upon harvesting. Plus, herbs produce a dense thicket of stems and leaves all at once. Odds are, you don't need the entire contents of your basil plant when finishing off your pasta dishes. As such, the plant only needs to compensate for the few stems plucked off.
They're simple to grow
Not only do herbs quickly replenish cut leaves, but they're also simple to grow. You could certainly begin with an outdoor herb garden, but you could begin even simpler with an indoor windowsill garden. Some herbs, like basil or lavender, are even sold in the houseplant section at gardening centers.
Herbs also have the added benefit of being incredibly fragrant, as well as decoratively appealing. Just be sure to keep them out of reach of pets. Some of the easier indoor herbs include mint, basil, sage, chives, rosemary, parsley, and oregano. Make sure they have enough water and light, but otherwise they're quite low maintenance.
You can plant herbs in a nursery pot with soil, or you can make things even easier on yourself and plant them in water, per Savvy Gardening. The process is similar to stem propagation for houseplants like pothos, requiring you to simply cut a small part of the plant off and put in a jar of water — just make sure you change the water out every few days. You could perpetually grow them in water, or wait for roots to form and replant them in dirt.