Herbs Work Great Incorporated Into Landscaping

You don’t have to have a separate herb garden to grow culinary herbs. They’ll do just fine in your landscape or flower bed.

When incorporating herb plants into a landscape, use them like ornamentals. Consider their growing habits, colors of their blooms and mature size.

The following are a few suggestions from Les and Barbara Cooley, owners of Live Oak Herb Garden in Weatherford, Texas, and Judy Clary, a Fort Worth interior designer and avid gardener:

Basil comes in many varieties: sweet, lemon, Purple Ruffles, purple and Spicy Globe. This annual does best in full sun and grows in a bushy shape as tall as 2 feet if you pick the leaves often.

Lavender is an evergreen that needs well-drained soil and full sun. Old English lavender grows up to 2 feet tall with tall flower spikes. Dwarf Munstead is a shorter variety, about 18 inches, with short flower spikes.

Mint needs sun or light shade and can get up to 18 inches tall. Use mint as companions to mass plantings of colorful annuals. Mint is aggressive, so plant it at the edge or corner of the landscape.

Oregano is a winter-hardy perennial that does well in sun or light shade. It may die back in severe winters but returns in the spring. It has small fuzzy leaves and white blooms, and it can get up to 18 inches tall.

Parsley is a hardy biennial that likes partial shade and soil rich in organic matter. Plant curly leafed parsley as a border in your flower bed.

Thyme is a perennial that needs well-drained soil and full sun or partial shade. Most varieties are shorter than 12 inches and can be used as ground cover.