The art of growing herbs dates back to many thousands of long years and the applications for these herbs have involved both medicinal as well as culinary purposes. In these modern times, herbs provide us with fragrances as well as flavors and are also a very important part of your kitchen garden.

The best part about growing herbs is that you do not need a lot of land in order to do the growing and in fact a small plot can provide you with many uses and it will be easy to grow all the herbs that you want for your personal use.

Another endearing thing about wanting to grow herbs is that they are very easy to grow and even people that have never grown anything before will not have a problem in raising herbs in their home gardens.

The best time to plant the herbs is during the spring months and it is also possible to create a wonderful herb garden in your home that is attractive and which helps to grow bountiful numbers of herbs. A formal herb garden needs use of formal growing techniques of which many have come down from the ages. For example a knot garden helps you to grow herbs that boast of knotty designs and this form of growth has been practiced since the medieval times.

Even if you do not have much space for growing herbs you can use part of a flower garden or even a vegetable garden in which to plant the seeds. In particular you may want to raise creeping rosemary and thyme as these help to create a wonderful edging plan for any flower or vegetable garden.

It is also important to differentiate between perennial and annual herbs. The former kind will grow from year to year and can be made the basic structure of your herb garden. Annuals on the other hand must be snipped during the summer season and will need to be cleared completely before the frost starts to destroy them.

Basil is a good example of an annual herb and it forms a vital ingredient in a number of Mediterranean food dishes. It can easily grow after its seeds have been planted though if you want them to blossom in summer then you should be planting seedlings.

Cilantro is another option and one that can be used in a variety of food dishes including those from Thailand, Mexico and Vietnam. Parsley can be grown and used for almost every kind of dish while dill provides fragrance and flavor and is an ideal ingredient in many culinary dishes.

Growing herbs is a fun task in itself, but these plants are not only great garden inhabitants they have wonderful practical uses too!