How to Grow a Window Box Herb Garden: An Easy Guide to Fresh Herbs at Home
There’s nothing quite like grabbing a handful of fresh herbs whilst you’re cooking to elevate your dishes and impress your friends. Herbs are a fantastic way to add depth and flavour to your food and when you grow them yourself, they add texture and fragrance to your garden.
They are so versatile and many varieties are hardy and easy-to-grow. Window boxes offer the perfect space-saving way to have fresh herbs in your life for far less than pre-packed bags in the supermarket. Plenty of varieties can also be grown inside on a sunny windowsill.
Setting up your window box herb garden
Although they’re known as window boxes, you can actually install these types of growing containers in other places depending on what spaces you have available. Balconies, terraces, and patios make excellent locations for your plants as long as you can easily access them.
When choosing your container, it’s very important to consider the depth that your herbs will need. A depth of at least 6-8 inches will be deep enough to let the roots grow properly whilst offering adequate draining, but larger rooted varieties like parsley will need 10-12 inches to properly grow.
In terms of location, window box plants will generally do better in a sunny, sheltered location. Whatever material you choose, be it plastic, wood, or metal, make sure that your window box has proper drainage holes to prevent water from sitting in the bottom.
Your plants will need compost that has good moisture retention and allows proper airflow. You can create this by incorporating vermiculite and perlite into your compost to maintain consistent moisture whilst helping with aeration.
Choosing Your Window Box Herbs
Choosing your selection is one of the best parts of growing your own herbs. It depends on how much sun your window box will get as to which herbs will grow better, and it’s also useful to think about the types of herbs that you’d actually want to cook with. We’ve put together a few of our favourites to help you decide.
Basil
Basil is a firm favourite in the kitchen whether making your own pesto or pairing with tomato dishes for a bright, herby flavour. This herb grows best in sunny conditions, and regular pruning of your basil plants can help prevent flowering and encourage bushiness, which makes it perfect for window box growing.
For a classic Italian basil with a rich, sweet flavour, try Basil Genovese. We also love Dark Opal for its larger dark purple-bronze leaves and excellent flavour. Spicy Globe Bush is a great container variety as it grows as a compact dome and has a strong aroma.
Thyme
Thyme is an excellent herb choice for window boxes as it is a low, compact plant that can be harvested year-round and is integral to a wide range of cuisines.
Although it is hardy enough to withstand winter temperatures, thyme plants are Mediterranean and do prefer as good amount of sun.
We’d recommend English Winter Thyme for a robust, earthy flavour that can be used to season almost anything.
Parsley
Parsley is an essential culinary herb with a wide range of uses and applications. The plants are relatively small when maintained well and enjoy a good amount of sunshine.
Italian Giant Flat Parsley is particularly popular with chefs, having an excellent, strong flavour. For a garnish that packs a flavoursome punch, try Triple Moss Curled Parsley.
Mint
Mint is arguably the perfect herb to grow in window boxes as it is such a prolific grower that it can easily take over your garden if left to its own devices. This also means that it should not be planted with other herbs in your window box as it will quickly smother them. Keeping it contained will give you far more control. We love making fresh mint tea or adding it to both savoury and sweet dishes for a refreshing lift. Whether you choose sweetly aromatic Spearmint, Lemon Mint with a citrus twist, the anise-like scent and flavour of Korean Mint, or the sweeter, more flavourful Egyptian Round Leaf Mint, each variety will do well when grown in a container.
Coriander
Love it or hate it, Coriander is a staple ingredient in many cuisines around the world. Its fresh, citrusy flavour adds an aromatic brightness that lifts many dishes. Whilst this herb prefers sunny conditions, it can also be prone to bolting. Partial shade in hot weather can help prevent this, as can regularly cutting the entire plant back and not just harvesting the leaves.
Classic Coriander is a good choice for window box growing, but we like to use Coriander Calypso as it is slow-bolting and has a low growing point, which makes it easier to harvest and cut back.
Chives
Chives are part of the allium family and have a wonderfully mild onion-like flavour that grow year after year. They also freeze well, meaning that you can make the most of your harvest. Chives will grow best in a warm, sunny location.
Whatever herbs you choose to grow, be sure to take a look at the detailed cultivation advice on each varieties so that you know how to plant and grow each one.
Five-Herb-Disc Seed Tape Collection
To make growing your own herbs even easier, we have our 5 Herb Disc Collection to take the stress out of choosing and help you get growing even quicker. It includes Basil Genovese, Basil Dark Opal, Coriander, Chives, and Italian Giant Parsley to give you a great variety of herbs evenly spaced in biodegradable paper for fuss-free gardening at your fingertips.
