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An Herb Garden Cartwheel
 A
cartwheel design for your herb garden can be used whether you have
a little space or a lot, 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.
You can choose to remove the sod within the circle,
have
the soil tested, 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, you'll want to 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.
You can decide how to plant your new beds any way
you wish. Plant each bed with a single herb to create a kaleidoscope
of varying green hues. Perhaps, you want those used for cooking
on one side of the wheel and those used for potpourri, sachets and
so on 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!
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