Planting an Italian Herb Garden

There is an amazing amount of potentials when you start your own Italian herb garden.  Italy is the source of some of the most popular and most delicious herbs in the world.  Some of the best cuisines come from Italy and are famous in part for their herbs.

Many Italian recipes use basil, one of the best known Italian herbs in the world.  Basil will not only add flavor to many Italian cuisines, it is also useful in the garden to other plants.  The flavor of peppers and tomatoes will greatly improve if they are grown right next to basil.  Plus, basil will also repel flies and mosquitoes in your Italian herb garden.

Parsley is a relatively hard herb to grow in an Italian herb garden but it is very useful in both Italian and other types of cuisines.  Before breath mints were widely used, it was a tradition to eat fresh parsley after a meal to remove bad breath.  The tradition arose to serve parsley on a small dish after the meal.  This tradition of using parsley as a garnish on a variety of meals continues to this day.

Besides being flavorful, oregano is also decorative.  When it is fully mature it will sprout pretty little purple flowers.  Oregano should not be harvested until it has flowered because this is when the plant is most flavorful.

Fennel is famous for its seeds that grace and enhance the flavors of Italian
sausage.  Interestingly, the fennel plant loses its flavor as it matures.  It is a perennial plant that should be divided and replanted in an Italian herb garden every few years to maintain its taste.

Like basil, rosemary is an Italian herb that is beneficial to the garden.  It grows into a huge shrub that produces pretty tiny blue flowers.  It helps the Italian herb garden by attracting bees.  Although it is a tough evergreen perennial, it is sensitive to frost.

Garlic is probably the most popular herb in Italian cuisine.  No Italian herb garden would be complete without this useful herb.  Garlic gloves can be planted and will thrive in just about any garden with very little attention.  They can be stored to be used at a later time after they are harvested by freezing them or pickling them to store in the refrigerator.

Sage is used to flavor a variety of Italian meat and salad dishes.  New shoots of the plant contain the most flavor so it is recommended not to let sage plants to get to woody by keeping them trim.  Young shoots will start to grow.  The best time to harvest sage is after it has fully bloomed.

Although there are so many more herbs that can be included in an Italian herb garden, you really should consider which herbs you will use.  Think about the growing conditions each plant needs and consider whether or not you can provide these conditions.

Italian herbs should be considered as more than something that just improves the flavor of food.  They also enhance the beauty of landscape designs.  They can be displayed for color and their aroma.  By planting Italian herbs amongst other plants, you will be graced with the sweet aromas straight from Italy.  Having an Italian herb gardenwill be just like taking a walk along an Italian hillside.