Herb garden and patio project tour

If you’re thinking about starting a garden or adding to an existing one, herbs are a fantastic choice. They look pretty, are easy to care for, and can be used for cooking. Take a peek inside our backyard on this herb garden tour and see what we did. This DiY project was pretty easy and is something we will enjoy for a long time.

Herb garden tour

We started this project with lots of planning. There was already a natural path from the back porch to the side gate, so we started with that. Here’s a “before” photo.

First, Hubby cut back several trees that were growing through the chain-link fence.

There is a natural downhill slope towards the herb bed, so we used four 8-foot metal garden edging pieces to outline the path. {$10 each at Lowes} These are pretty self-explanatory to install. You just line them up where you want them to go and hammer the spikes into the ground. The edging is pretty flexible.

On one side, we sectioned off a little corner beside the back porch. There’s a lot already growing there – sage, lilies, and spring onions. I’m not sure what exactly I want to do, so I left it messy for now.

Then we built our raised garden bed for the herbs. {See that post for the full tutorial on how to build one!}

On the opposite side, we just curved the edging to meet up with the end of the raised bed. Between the edging, we removed the grass for the walkway.

We put three concrete pavers {about a buck each at Wal-Mart} at the edge of the yard by the gate. This serves as a sort of entryway and also keeps the gravel from running away.

For our biggest step, we used 16 bags of river rocks to fill in the walkway area. {We got them on sale, but you can find them at any home store or Wal-mart for $2.50-$4 per bag.}

What we planted

One the building part was done, we planted herbs that we know we like and will use. Some of them are seasonal, but I tried to pick a few that should last for a few years.

• rosemary
• parsley
• thyme
• sage
• oregano
• cilantro

The patio

We used the same method as the herb garden for the patio area.

The fire pit was already there, but I didn’t really like the grass growing right up to the edge. We used seven more pieces of the same metal edging and 25 bags of rock. We spent a lot of time removing the grass because this was a much larger section.

Getting the round shape was just a lot of trial and error. We laid it out and then adjusted – several times – until it looked pretty round. I did use a tape measure, but if I measured again, I’m not sure it would be perfectly round.

What’s next

I have a few more projects for the backyard. We’re going to do some more landscaping near the herb garden and I really need to repaint all of our patio furniture.

Both of these projects are paths that branch off of the concrete porch. We are going to add one more section for a vegetable garden – probably next summer.

My latest garden project is attracting and feeding the birds. Stay tuned for details in another post.