For several years, I’ve wanted to build an herb spiral. I’ve wanted to create a beautiful addition to our garden and provide fresh herbs for cooking and curing.
Now that our climbing tree has been destroyed by a wicked ice storm, I have the perfect spot to put it.
An herb spiral is a method of vertical gardening and has several benefits over gardening in a bed.
- Saves space
- Provides microclimates
- Makes pest control easier
- Makes harvesting easier
- Allows a higher crop yield in a limited space
- Makes companion planting easier
- Creates a beautiful ‘show garden’
I want my spiral to be both culinary and medicinal.
I’ll plant chamomile and use it to make a medicinal tea to soothe an upset stomach or help with sleep.
I’ll use rosemary to make a tasty pasta sauce or cure a headache.
I’ll make a delicious salsa with cilantro and lower my blood sugar.
Below are a few more herbs I’d like to plant in my spiral.
- Basil (Culinary)
- Chamomile (Medicinal and Tea)
- Echinacea (Medicinal and Tea)
- Cilantro (Culinary)
- Lavendar (Medicinal and Tea)
- Parsley (Medicinal and Culinary)
- Rosemary (Medicinal and Culinary)
- Sage (Medicinal and Culinary)
- Thyme (Medicinal and Culinary)
- Marigold (Medicinal)
- Mints: Peppermint, lemon balm, bee balm
Mints are the super herb. They help with everything from headaches and digestion to skin care and weight loss.
However…they have a tendency to take over.
We already have chocolate mint creeping throughout the vineyard and lemon balm taking over the kitchen garden, so these will go in pots on the deck or in the swale.
Herbs are not the only plant that do well in a vertical garden.
Tomatoes, peas, beans…any climbing plant work well on a trellis and almost any vegetable, including squash, will thrive in containers.
Maybe I’ll try trellising my squash this year.
Maybe it will make battling the squash bugs easier.
Maybe we won’t get squash bugs at all.
Herbs in the garden
Fragrant, beautiful, tasty
A spiral of health
a pinch of homestead 
I just built my herb spiral as well and will be planting some of the same stuff. This will be my third one (first one at this location) and it is by far one of my favorite features in the garden. A must have.
off topic, but on my mind, do you have a favorite piece of winter gear that you garden in? I am thinking warm without the bulk. It looks like you get cold weather, I am new to gardening in cold weather, and man oh man do I need to upgrade my wardrobe.
Thanks for stopping by! I’m really looking forward to building the spiral. So many gorgeous designs out on the web!
I usually bundle up in my warmest coat, or my husband’s insulated flannel as it is not so bulky, and use finger-less gloves if I need to work with my hands.
I was going to ask how you were going to build you herb spiral. I’ve been toying with the idea myself but am wondering about materials needed (eg time and sourcing).
We have a big pile of landscaping blocks that our neighbor gave us that I will use to build the spiral. Before he gave these to us, we were planning to use busted up concrete from a patio that we took out when we moved in. I’m not sure how long it will take to build it, but I’m hoping a Saturday afternoon we’ll get it done. Thanks for stopping by!
Well, good luck with the spiral 🙂
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