As part of the patio project, the garden around our well was completely ripped out. It hurt a little, as this garden was our most established flowerbed, and the plants were huge. But Ellie and I did a lot of transplanting last fall, and despite our rushed, late season, haphazard technique, the plants survived. Our contractors were also very obliging and moved some of the larger shrubs for us.
Faced with a blank slate, I started to re-evaluate the well garden, and I decided to try an herb garden. Herbs can be lovely and decorative, and also of course functional. This garden is very close to the kitchen, so it’s a convenient location for herbs. Plus it receives a lot of sun, which most herbs like.
I decided to try a different planting pattern: a spiral. (Hint: a garden hose is helpful to plan out the curves.)
I came across this idea on Pinterest. Spirals are an established technique for planting herbs. Usually people use some kind of edging (bricks, rocks, wood) and build a twisting bed that gets higher toward the centre. The spiral creates different growing conditions based on where you are on the curve, and herbs are planted in specific locations based on how much sun or water they prefer.
The well garden is round, so it’s a perfect shape for a spiral. I didn’t make ours rise very much, as I don’t love the “tower” visual, but I think the design and principles will still work. We have lots of rocks, so I used those to lay out the spiral, and we even had a start on the herbs.
My Mom gave me a big planter of herbs for Mother’s Day, so I used that. Matt’s parents gave Ellie a lemon balm plant, which she loves. Another friend gave me some echinacea. We also have chamomile growing wild around the farm, mint behind the house, and chives that I transplanted from my parents years ago. Ellie and I bought one lavender bush, a plant which I’ve wanted to add to the farm for a while. I also took a broad interpretation of beneficial plants and added some milkweed too.
It took us just a couple of hours to lay it out and put all the plants in the ground. Everything is small and a bit droopy right now, but I’m looking forward to seeing them grow.
Thinking about this new garden was energizing and fun, and I’m excited by how it came together.
Home on 129 Acres 
One of our requirements when purchasing our current home was room for a large garden. Little did we realize that we’d be limited to the flowerbeds against the south side of the house until we installed a fence to keep out the varmints (deer and possum and raccoons and bunnies and …).
Herbs and a few tomatoes and peppers were planted the first year – and now that we have a fenced area we’ve allowed the herbs to take over the flowerbeds. There are still a few foundation shrubs and iris that existed when we moved here but every empty spot has been filled with another herb. We both enjoy being able to snip herbs all year long for whatever is happening in the kitchen.
Part of our fenced garden is devoted to space hog perennials (blueberries, strawberries and soon asparagus and other berries) and the rest is all the usual veggies. In a few days our dinners will be planned around what my husband harvests and my evenings will be filled with preserving the excess. Some things get blanched and frozen, some get dehydrated and some are canned.
I try to do a mix of staples (green beans, yellow squash, dried tomatoes) and fun things (watermelon jelly, cantaloupe jam, dehydrated watermelon, tomato jam). This year we added paste tomatoes so sauce and salsa are in my future along with a wider variety of veggies.
Hope you & Ellie enjoy your garden as much as we enjoy ours!
It sounds like you have a lovely space(s). And a lovely routine of using and preserving your harvest. I hope that we get there someday!
I have an herb garden in front of my screened in porch just off of the kitchen. One thing to consider is how large and spreading some of the perennial herbs can get. Mint and tarragon can quickly become invasive and I had one small lemon balm plant that has grown enormous (hydrangea sized!). Oregano has also taken off, so adding a lot of space between the herbs is a good idea. It seems like a lot of the herbs around the outside of your spiral are the ones that grow taller, but maybe the inside spiral is higher so you can still get to your other herbs? Hopefully you will share some recipes with all your herbs!
Thank you for your advice. For now the herbs are so small that I’m hoping they spread. I may regret that someday. You are correct the taller are on the outside right now. Part of that was based on the recommendations of where to locate plants on the spiral. Part of it is also which ones will flower and even hide the well a little bit. I think all of the herbs will be pretty accessible, even if I have to reach over or between some of them.
Cool idea! I think that will be beautiful as it fills out.
It’s already growing so much, and I love how it’s filling in.