A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Herb in box

Hi
I want to make a small herb garden in my kitchen window. I have triangular area between two windows one facing west and the other south. It gets good light in winter, in summer a tree might come in the way but still should get enough light. I have small plants- rosemary, spearmint, greek oregano, oregano, parsley and I have started basil from seeds. I want to put them in one big container and put that in the triangular area. It will look neater than individual containers I think. Any suggestions as to what size container I should use? I was thinking of a rectangula wooden box but have no idea if that will work

Thanks!

Since you didn't say exactly how much space you have or how big a box you want to use. I want to know are you planning to place them all in the same dirt in the box??? If so, this may not work, Basil and Rosemary can grow quite big and tall, which will shade the lower growing herbs. The area should recieve enough light though for the plants not shaded by others...Also the mint could take over the box and choke some of the others out. I would try to arrange indiviual pots in a box and maybe rotate the pots or box weekly. If you have enough room maybe try using two flower boxes with the lower growing ones in the front of the window and the taller ones behind, just suggestions. Also the water requirments for all of those plants are not the same which also could be a problem.

It is a triangular area. The two sides are about 2 feet and the base is about 4 feet . I can use the entire area as it is beyond the counter. What are flower boxes? Where do I get them and are they expensive?

Thanks a lot!

flower boxes are just boxes that have drainage holes in the bottom so the water doesn't sit where the roots can get root rot.

I agree with Comfrey that putting them in the same container is not a good idea. I can just see myself trying to reach over to harvest some of the leaves and breaking off branches from the basil that has taken the higher ground so to speak lol. But that's just me.

What would look really pretty are some of those stair step space savers stacked in that area then you could have your pots arranged smaller down front and larger on top. that would look really cool. You might want to hang a FS Light above the area to increase the light for the shorter plants.

Well I've decided I want a triangular space in my kitchen when I get one. That just sounds so pretty.

flower boxes come in plastic, clay, ceramic and also wood....The prices range from about $5-$20 depending how fancy or the material they are made out of...Walmart & Home Depot has a variety of them, But most places that sell flower pots should have them. I am interested to see what you end up doing with the area.

sure comfrey and tkhooper !Thanks for all the great advice. I will look around for big boxes on a weekend and also look for Lavender plant. I will definitely post pics of my kitchen triangle soon