I love herbs, and growing them indoors is easy. Herbs add a texture, feel and scent to a room or a garden that is unlike any other plant. And, there is nothing like cooking with fresh herbs! But if you are like me, you like to do most things just a little bit different, so we found these DIY indoor herb garden ideas and projects that are just a cut above the usual terra cotta pots. (Not that there is anything wrong with that!) And in case you need a little guidance as well, some advice for which herbs grow well and how to maintain your herb garden indoors.
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Indoor Herb Garden Basics
- Herbs generally require full sun, so you need to choose the placement of your herb garden well. A south facing window is ideal. As much bright light as possible is a key to success growing herbs inside, away from their natural environment.
- Choose the right kind of herbs. Some herbs, such as basil, can be really tough to grow indoors because they really do need 6-8 hours of full sun each day, which is impossible to achieve in a window. Our favorite herbs to grow indoors include parsley, lemon balm, mint, chives and some varieties of thyme and oregano. The broader the leaf the better they do indoors. Lemon Thyme, or Doone Valley Thyme are favorites. In general, if an herb does well in partial shade outdoors, it will do well in a sunny indoor exposure.
- Herbs need good drainage. Make sure you provide well draining soil and pots, and consider using gravel in the bottom for extra drainage. Adding a little grit or sand to the potting mix is great too. If you are using a container that tends to hold moisture, such as glass, use some activated charcoal in the bottom as well. (Sold in the houseplant section.)
- Don’t overwater. Wait until the top inch of the soil is dry before watering most indoor plants. Overwatering is the number one killer.
- Fertilize weekly with a weak liquid fertilizer for good growth, and remember to cut your herbs and use them! Cutting them back encourages new growth.
- Now that you have the basics for growing herbs indoors down, lets get back to some amazing projects we found to create one of a kind herb gardens.
Indoor Herb Garden Projects
Try this complete tutorial for a potted hanging herb garden from ‘Fresh Mommy Blog‘. This is a step by step tutorial with lots of photos so you can get it right. Wouldn’t this look cool in front of a window?
Make this indoor herb garden planter from ‘Grillo Designs‘ in 10 minutes from a baking pan!
Make an up cycled DIY indoor herb garden with lotion bottles from ‘Lovely Indeed‘. What a great way to recycle!
This indoor herb garden idea is simply a wooden box planted tightly with herbs, then hung on the wall. Be sure to use a waterproof plant liner inside the box. From ‘Houzz‘.
Maryann from ‘Domestically Speaking‘ made these mason jar DIY indoor herb gardens with a simple coat hook and some wire. (Oh yea, and some gorgeous green and blue mason jars!)
Use any wall storage system to create a planter for an herb garden indoors. This one is from ‘Ikea‘. They have a bunch of different styles of containers to choose from, too!
Another example of using a wall storage system as an indoor herb garden planter, from ‘Favething‘.
Create a DIY herb planter lamp from a strawberry pot with these instructions from’ BHG.’
This idea is an easy one…we suggest inserting small pots and liners into the drawers first if the piece you are using has any value…
This indoor herb garden idea is simply old tuna cans (painted if desired), with stained wood clothespins clipped onto the edges of the can. You can get these old style clothespins at the dollar store. See how they did this lovely project over at ‘7th House on the Left‘.
This next DIY indoor herb garden idea is by ‘Intimate Weddings‘. They have a step by step on creating thisteacup herb garden.
Another teacup herb gardenby ‘BHG‘, that has a more contemporary feel, but still homey…
‘Apartment Therapy‘ brings us this great inspiration tea tin indoor herb garden!
This DIY herb garden idea from ‘Unsophisticook‘ is made from a utensil caddy from Walmart! We love this idea because it’s portable, which means you can take the herbs indoors to cook, then take them outdoors to get a little afternoon sun when they need it!
We hope you enjoyed all theseDIY Indoor Herb Garden Ideas. Looking for more? You might want to check out our post onThen check out 11 Macrame Plant Hanger DIYs and 12 Indoor DIY Plant Pots over at TBD!
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