How to Plant a Tower Herb Garden for Your Balcony or Patio

Strawberry pots make useful upright containers not only for a small crop of strawberries, but for flowering annuals or a small herb garden. These pots, supplied by most garden centers, have several pockets or openings for placing plants in a vertical array.

Strawberry Pot With Herbs

Using a strawberry pot for a small tower herb garden has several benefits. You can grow most of your favorite herbs, one to each opening or pocket. It can be placed on a balcony or patio near the kitchen for easy harvesting. You can bring it inside as weather turns cold, so you have fresh herbs for your culinary creations throughout winter months.

Like any container grown plant, the weight of the pot and the dirt can make moving the container difficulty. Another problem often found in using strawberry pots for the novice user is in watering the plants. Bottom plants often do not receive enough water, while top openings can leak water and be quite messy.

Solve these problems easily by preparing ahead of time. First of all, set a piece of broken clay pot or something similar over the bottom drainage hole so soil does not leach out. Set a layer of styrofoam chips or plastic chunks in the bottom for drainage that does not add weight. This should make the container much more easy to move.

The next thing to prepare for is the watering. This can easily be solved by inserting a column reservoir in the center of the pot. Depending on the size of your strawberry pot, a 2 liter plastic milk jug can be just the ticket for this. Other possibilities are a large juice jug or a 2 liter pop bottle. A piece of 2 inch pvc pipe with a sealed bottom can work as well.

First of all, discard the bottle cap. Punch holes all over the jug or bottle, down the sides and along the bottom. Don’t make these too large — you want the water to drip out slowly into the soil at all levels, not rush out quickly. Attach a short piece of hose to the bottle neck, inserted into the jug and secured with duct tape. You will want this long enough to rise above the level of the soil you add so water can be easily added.

Now, place the jug into the center of the strawberry pot and start adding potting soil. As you come level with the pockets, gently insert the plants, taking care to spread out the roots and cover them with soil. Continue adding herbs and earth until you reach the top.

As you place your herbs take into consideration the best placement. Make sure trailing ones will not cover ones that are more compact, and plant taller ones like chives and rosemary in the top opening. Keep invasive ones like mint in their own containers! You may want to include marjoram, basil, thyme, parsley and sage in the pockets, along with some edible flowers like nasturtiums and pansies.

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