Do Herbs Grow Better In Pots Or The Ground?

Growing herbs is a great way for beginners to learn the joy of gardening - and a useful one, at that!

Many beginner gardeners wonder whether they need to plant in-ground or if a little garden can be grown in pots. 

While herbs love to spread and stretch out, planting in the ground is not mandatory, but those planted in pots need a little extra care.

Growing Herbs In The Ground

If you have some space to work with outside, consider planting your herbs in the ground itself. Growing in the ground allows their roots to take hold and spread out.

Some herbs do well outdoors during the colder months - depending on your climate.  There are a great variety of herbs which can be grown in hot climates.

Beginner gardeners have this vision: you take a precious little seed, carefully placing it in the ground, covering it with soil as if in a warm blanket. While the image is charming and sweet, reality offers a different one.

Starting your garden with plants as transplants or seedlings has a much higher success rate, as growth from seeds needs more particular conditions.

Maintenance of herbs can be pretty simple, especially if planted the right way. Right off the bat, make sure your soil is of good quality and space the herbs correctly according to their needs.

Start your herb garden in full sun and near a water source, spacing the plants for their mature growth.

Space-Saving Herbs In Pots

You would love your own herbs, fresh and homegrown, to cook with: however, you live in an apartment or smaller space. You think this counts you out of the gardening game and have resigned yourself to a couple of little houseplants.

Don't be wilted! You can still blossom and grow as a gardener with herbs, even in a habitat that doesn't allow for ground planting.

Start with picking your sunniest spot. Do you have a deck, a porch, or a big window? Herbs love to stretch their many limbs towards the giant orb in the sky, warm and cozy.

As we mentioned, herbs also tend to want to spread out, so make sure their little contained homes are not so little that they don't have the space they need. Choose containers that are big enough to hold the mature plant.

One of the benefits of growing your garden in containers is that some plants like to hog up all their space. These herbs may encroach on others' personal space when planted in the ground - a container garden keeps them separated, and each herb individual's flavor!

Some herbs such as mint can become invasive planted in the ground and can start to take over your veggie garden. Therefore mint is ideal in a pot.

Growing herbs on your sunny kitchen windowsill is the height of convenience and practicality. All cooks know how important fresh herbs are, and they don't come any fresher than this.

I prefer to grow herbs in separate containers rather than combining them in a larger container. Ensure that if you are planting them together in one container, they have the same growing conditions.

Let the soil dry out slightly before rewatering your herbs in containers. Never overwater.

If you have heavy clay soil, then growing herbs in containers is ideal as you can control the soil and moisture content much better. Herbs do not like being waterlogged.

Sharing Commonality

There are some things that outdoor herbs share in common with their indoor brothers and sisters. Neither likes to be overwatered, and something to keep in mind.

Your houseplants and your herbs do not require the same care - just like your roses and flowers have different needs than your herbs in the outside world.

All plants, especially herbs, are unique and individual, so they require different methods of care.

You are likely growing herbs to have fresh and tasty complements to your food.

Herbs are a fantastic way to start gardening with confidence and offer great yields. While they love living in the earth, they are quite happy coexisting in your home as well - so get out there and get planting!