Have you always wondered how you could participate in the farm to table concept?  Never fear, your farm is as close as a sunny window or your apartment patio. Planting a herb garden in your Camden apartment is easy. Using easy herbs such as Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram  are perfect to start your herb garden.

Here are a few easy steps to get you to have the perfect herb garden in your apartment:

Getting started

Start with a quality, name brand potting mix for container plants (not a topsoil or a potting soil). A good potting mix is one that is fluffy and holds moisture. These can be picked up at your local garden store or home improvement center.   

Photo courtesy of Rachel Anderson

Grab your seed or starter planters

If you're new to gardening (or impatient) try using starter plants found at your local nursery, feed store, or home improvement center. These will save you time. If you are adventurous you can start your plants from seeds!

Left photo: to save time, use starter plants.   Right photo: to start from scratch, use seeds.     Photo courtesy of Rachel Anderson

Planters

Any water holding container can be a planter for your herb garden - the possibilities are endless. The planter does not need to be big, one herb plant can go a long way.  Read the directions on your seed packets or starter plants for the details on how to plant that herb specifically. Have fun with the arrangement! You can either group herbs together in one planter or use separate planters. Make cute little labels with chalk directly on the planter or get creative with using other materials as stake labels.  

Photo courtesy of Pro Tip: Make sure your planter has drain holes in the bottom for the excess water to drain out. Just like you, herbs do not like wet feet. Try using a decorative saucer filled with pebbles under your planter to give it some interest.

Photo courtesy of Rachel Anderson

How to care for your herbs

Sun is important – Herbs prefer a sunny warm spot (again, just like us.) Find a location that will get some sunlight or at least 6 hours a day of bright light. Large windows or patios are great for catching the sun.

Water – watering depends on the size of the herb planter and how much sun it gets. *Note: Most herbs require more water than regular houseplants. Water as soon as the top few inches of soil are dry to the touch. Remember to have drainage holes in your pot so any excess water will run out of the pot.

Prune your herb leaves from the top of the plant at a new set of leaves, this will encourage your plant to focus on growing leaves instead of stems.

Photo courtesy of Photo Courtesy Rachel Anderson

Happy Gardening and remember…

Photo courtesy of “There are no Gardening mistakes, only experiments!” -

Share pictures of your success with us in the comments below! Follow the Simply Camden blog to get more apartment plant life tips like this DIY Succulent Terrarium.

Photo courtesy of By: Joanne Belcher. She is the Regional Landscape Director for all Camden Tampa apartments, Orlando apartments, and Southeast Florida apartments. She enjoys anything that will bring her outside! Joanne has been with Camden for 12 years. Check out her other blog with tips to relieve spring allergies!