Herb Garden Cartwheel Design

A cartwheel design for an herb garden can be used whether there is a small or large space. Just vary the size of the outer edge of the circle to fit your needs. It's great if you're learning to grow herbs for the first time and want to keep them organized or if you just want to create a little formality. Planting herbs together away from other garden plants allows easy access to them and concentrates their scents all in one area for maximum enjoyment.

Since most herbs grow well in full sun to part shade, choose a spot in your yard that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Mark out the circle on the lawn where your herb garden will be with a garden hose or circle of string. Next trace out the circle again by removing a line of sod around the perimeter with a spade, just enough do that you can remove the hose or string and still see the circle.

Sod can be removed from within the circle, test the soil, and then till it with compost, lime and other amendments, or create a raised bed with bricks or other stones and purchase soil and compost to fill in the beds. Either way, make sure the soil drains well. With both methods, define the outer edge of the wheel with bricks or other stones. This will help to keep the grass from invading the garden and will help to contain soil and gravel within the bed.

To define the "spokes" of the wheel, use more bricks or install a weed barrier around the individual beds and fill in the borders with gravel. If your garden is large enough, these gravel borders can be used as paths that will make weeding and harvesting a breeze.

Beds can be planted in a variety of ways. Plant each bed with a single herb to create a kaleidoscope of varying green hues. Another option is to plant herbs used for cooking on one side of the wheel and those used for potpourri, sachets on the other side. The sections created by the wheel are great for containing invasive herbs like those of the mint family. You may wish to plant taller rosemary, basil or sage in one section while leaving another for the low-growing thymes. The possibilities are endless!