A raised herb bed offers a variety of options for growing aromatic and aromatic herbs in the smallest of spaces and in a way that is easy on the back, whether as a pure herb bed or in the form of a mixed culture. If you want to plant a raised bed with herbs, you should consider a few basic things, especially with regard to location and planting partners. Because many species show incompatibilities with other herbs and can even affect each other in their development.
herb raised bed
preliminary considerations
A herb raised bed offers ideal growth conditions, especially for herbs that love warmth, which applies to most. Before planting a raised bed, you need a suitable location. The ideal location for the majority of herbs is full sun, although light shade at midday, e.g. from a deciduous shrub, would be beneficial. But there are also species that thrive in sunny to semi-shady locations or permanently in semi-shade.
Raised bed in the garden area
materials
Incidentally, a raised bed can consist of different materials. Regardless of whether you choose wood, metal or plastic, you should generally pay attention to high-quality materials in order to ensure uncomplicated use and long durability. Especially with wood, it is advisable to only use hardwoods such as Douglas fir, larch or oak, which are more dimensionally stable and durable than softwoods. However, they are also a bit more expensive. Once the right place has been found, the herb raised bed can be set up, depending on whether it is a kit or a home-made one.
Tip: If the raised bed is made of wood, it is essential to line the inside with foil to protect against rotting, even with hardwood. Without protection, the wood would soon rot.
fill
Layers in the herb raised bed
Once the raised bed is in place, it's time to fill it. Only organic materials such as green waste, twigs, compost and potting or garden soil are used for this purpose. The natural rotting process in the bed generates heat, which in turn benefits plant growth. To protect against voles, the bed should be placed on a wire mesh that is not too large. Then the herb raised bed can be filled with organic materials.
- at the bottom a drainage layer of gravel, potsherds or expanded clay
- it should ensure good water drainage
- the next layer is coarse material
- This can be twigs, cuttings from trees, hedges or bushes and wood waste
- this is followed by a thicker layer of fine green clippings and/or leaves
- then add a layer of compost to these rotting layers
- top and last layer depending on the herbs to be planted
lawn clippings
Mediterranean plants such as rosemary, lavender or sage prefer sandy, dry and nutrient-poor soils. Parsley, dill or lovage love slightly moist, nutrient-rich soil with a higher humus content. On the other hand, mint is an herb that also feels good on acidic soil.
planting
When planting raised beds, water and nutrient requirements are crucial factors. While there are species with high and low water requirements, nutrient requirements depend on whether they are light, medium, or heavy feeders. Most prefer a permeable and not too nutrient-rich soil. Consequently, it is advisable to mix the soil with about a third of sand when planting. In addition, the plant height and possible intolerances also play a decisive role in the planting. If you ignore this, it can happen that they take away the light from each other or hinder their growth.
combinations
Combinations in the herb raised bed
Most types of herbs can be easily cultivated in a raised bed. However, one should pay attention to suitable combinations, because while some species complement or even favor each other, there are also species that are better not planted together.
Species with similar nutritional needs
In a traditional raised herb bed, the supply of nutrients, especially the nitrogen content, is initially relatively high. This decreases over time. In order to adapt the planting accordingly, it makes sense to only grow heavy and medium feeders in the first year, medium feeders in the second year and mainly weak feeders from the third year onwards. The majority of them belong to the latter. Or you regularly only grow medium feeders.
Heavy consumers are, for example, basil, fruit sage and borage. They can be combined with each other or with middle tens such as wild garlic, lovage, dill, parsley, tarragon, chives or rocket. Weak consumers are, for example, thyme, fennel, sage, coriander, cress, oregano, savory, rosemary and marjoram.
Basil for the herb raised bed
Tip: Since there are only a few heavy consumers among the herbs, you can alternatively combine vegetables with high nutrient requirements such as small tomatoes or zucchini.
Combinations depending on location
Most Mediterranean and local kitchen herbs thrive in a raised herb bed in full sun and rather dry, well-drained soil. For example, lavender, rosemary, thyme or marjoram, sage, oregano, savory, chamomile and caraway as well as burnet and lemon verbena are suitable for sunny locations.
In addition to the sun-loving species, there are also those that feel more comfortable in partial shade. This is how basil, savory, lovage, borage and parsley can be arranged in a sunny and partially shaded herb raised bed. On the other hand, wild garlic, garden cress, chervil, lemon balm, rocket, chives, lemongrass, woodruff and mint tend to prefer partial shade. Although basil is one of the Mediterranean herbs, due to its high water requirement, it is better off in partial shade.
Tip: Care should be taken with mint, as it sometimes spreads very quickly and could quickly displace other species.
Raised bed with thirstier herbs
Some types of herbs are particularly thirsty and can therefore be combined well in a raised bed with humus-rich, permeable and moderately moist soil. Parsley, basil, watercress, chives and borage are particularly thirsty. Dill, tarragon, garden cress, lovage, parsley and chives also need to be watered well.
Cultivate parsley in raised beds
Combine species with different water requirements
If you pay attention to the correct placement of herbs in the raised bed, you can also combine dry-loving and thirsty ones. The species with the highest water requirement, e.g. parsley, nasturtium or borage, are planted in the middle of the bed. Those that like it particularly dry, which is the case with most Mediterranean herbs, are planted on the outer edge. The area in between can be planted with more tolerant species such as oregano, dill, marjoram, lemon balm or chervil.
Combinations with the most common kitchen herbs
The most commonly used kitchen herbs include chives and parsley, both smooth and curly. Both can be combined very well with Mediterranean thyme, rosemary, sage or savory. Depending on the size of the raised bed, other plant partners could be different types of mint such as lemon, pineapple or Hugo mint. If necessary, you can place them in a kind of root barrier against the strong urge to spread the mint.
Separate annual and perennial species
- Do not plant annual and perennial herb species wildly mixed up
- both should keep to themselves
- This is due to incompatibilities and various symbioses
- The location of annual herbs must be changed annually
- otherwise there is a risk of soil fatigue
- Ideally, only plant the herb raised bed with annual or perennial species
- Annuals can almost all be combined with each other
- annual coriander, cress, savory, rocket, parsley and basil are ideal
Among the biennials and perennials, for example, sage, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, tarragon and chives can be combined. Other good planting partners include sage, oregano and winter savory, as well as dill, chervil, marjoram, parsley and borage.
Lemon balm, Melissa officinalis
Tip: Basil should not be missing from the annual herbs, it can protect neighboring herbs from one or the other pest.
Vigorous plants in the background
So that all these plants can develop optimally in raised beds, the right arrangement is important. So you plant particularly tall and wide-growing species such as rosemary, tarragon, sage, dill, chamomile or lovage in the background, which is ideally north-facing. Half-tall species such as nasturtium or chervil are placed in the middle, while low-growing herbs such as parsley, chives, marjoram and cress are planted in the front, south-facing area of the raised bed.
Good and unfavorable planting partnerships
Incompatibilities arise, for example, when coriander is planted near fennel, chives or parsley, or when basil and lemon balm, tarragon and dill, chamomile and peppermint or marjoram and thyme are placed in close proximity to each other. On the other hand, rosemary goes well with basil, sage with oregano and savory and chives with parsley and chamomile. Thyme is an ideal plant neighbor for savory, tarragon, coriander, fennel and several Mediterranean herbs. One herb that doesn't like any immediate neighbors and is incompatible with almost every other herb is lovage.
Lavender in the raised bed
combinations with vegetables
Herbs can also be a useful addition to a raised vegetable bed. Lavender and nasturtium can keep aphids away from tomatoes, sage, thyme and peppermint drive away cabbage whites on cabbage plants and savory can protect French beans from black aphids. Basil, planted next to tomatoes, should enhance their aroma.