Kitchen Garden Herb Spiral

By Michael Higgins

An herb spiral is a fantastic design to grow herbs and other crops for your garden. It will add a beautiful focal point and a diversity of perennials and annuals. The design can be small to large depending on the space. The location will allow easy access to pick fresh culinary herbs for your kitchen. An herb spiral will also provide microclimate niches, while providing habitat for beneficial pollinators and predators. The spiral design allows horizontal and vertical plant space which creates zones of moist rich soils to dry well drained soils for many varieties of herbs to grow. An herb spiral is easy to maintain and fun to use. 

Design Considerations

The first herb spiral I made was designed with 7 foot radius and 3.5 feet high at the center to allow a path for access and fun for my kids. At minimum, an herb spiral should have a radius around 3 feet for adequate plant space and creating ideal microclimates. Start small and see what you can create. There are many ways you can build the structure with rocks, urbanite and even bamboo. The base material can be layered with cardboard to prevent weeds and covered with gravel for adequate drainage, and then sandy soil with compost. The herb spiral will rise creating three vertical levels, where the lower level contains about 50% sandy loam and 50% compost, As the spiral rises, increase the sandy loam ratio to create ideal well-drained soils, great for Mediterranean type herbs.

It is up to you how you want to create and grow your spiral. I experimented with my first herb spiral a little differently from others. I have a row in the first level for annuals for seasonal vegetables and have a raspberry in the center. It is good to experiment, observe, and modify as you see fit. There are some good resources that you can find on the internet about herb spirals and the different ways to construct. Explore and enjoy.

Here are some herbs to consider:

• Thyme – aromatic evergreen herb, perennial that is best cultivated in hot, sunny location with well-drained soils.
• Oregano – perennial herb, related to marjoram, with olive green leaves and purple flowers that is best cultivated in sunny relatively dry soil. 
• Mint (Mentha) – aromatic perennial that is best cultivated in moist soils with partial to full sun.
• Cilantro (Coriander) – annual that grows best in well-drained moist soil.
• Basil – annual best gown in hot dry conditions, although this wonderful culinary herb can be treated as a perennial grown in warm tropical climate.
• Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon) – a medicinal and culinary herb that is best grown in hot and moist conditions and repels insects.
• Parsley – annual and biennial herb that grows best in moist, well-drained soils with full sun.
• Sage – is a perennial, evergreen sub-shrub with grayish leaves and blue to purplish flowers that is best grown in fairly dry, well-drained soils with full sun.
• Catnip – is a short-lived perennial, herbaceous herb that is drought resistant and deer-resistant grown in well-drained soils with full sun. Beware that cats love this plant.
• Rosemary – is a woody evergreen shrub, perennial, aromatic and drought tolerant that grows best in well-drained soil with full sun.
• Fennel – is a hardy perennial, aromatic herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves best grown in dry soil with full sun.
• Tarragon (estragon) – is a perennial herb in the sunflower family that is used for medicinal and culinary purposes that can grow up to 5-feet tall andgrows well in sunny dry conditions.
• Calendula – is an annual and perennial herbaceous plant in the daisy family that is used for medicinal and culinary purposes. It can be grown in poor to average well-drained soil in full sun and hot conditions.
• Chives – is a perennial allium (e.g. onion, garlic, and leek), bulb-forming herbaceous plant with grass-like leaves and violet flowers that provides abundant nectar for pollinators and grows well in well-drained soil with full sun.
• Bergamot (bee palm) – is a hardy perennial medical and culinary herb with pink-purplish flowers that attracts pollinators and has leaves that can be used for flavoring teas and fruit drinks. This aromatic citrus-like herb grows well in moist, well-drained with full to partial sun.
• Lavender (Lavandula) – is an herbaceous perennial plant used for medicinal and culinary purposes that grows well in dry, well-drained, sandy soils with full sun and very tolerant to drought. The purple flowers attract pollinators and is ornamental for your garden.
• Marjoram – is a perennial aromatic herb of sweet pine and citrus flavors which attracts pollinators and is used for culinary purposes. It can be cold-sensitive but sometimes prove hardy (e.g. grows well in my herb spiral in western Oregon), and grows well in well-drained soils with full sun.