I turned my old (large) veggie garden into an herb garden several years ago and have been enjoying it immensely. I have different sections (culinary, fragrant, magical, medicinal, etc.) with an appropriate piece of yard-art to designate each one. It's been a challenge to populate it, but is slowly filling in. I do find many herbs to be very robust, multiplying or reseeding freely and at times quite tall. It's been a fun project.

Deb, is that grass growing in there? Lovely garden, BTW!

Yes, grass pathways. This garden started out as raised beds for veggies when the boys were young, and I did a lot of canning and freezing. The raised beds fell by the wayside (we used the barked outer slabs of lumber from a local sawmill which eventually rotted) and when the boys left home the veggie garden was just too huge for two people. Rather than sticking with the prior straight rows of beds, we reconfigured it to a labyrinth of sorts and I've been adding herbs as I find them. The standard culinary ones were easy enough, and I just keep my eye peeled for others to add in. Often I have no idea what the growth pattern is like, so there has been a fair amount of reshuffling things to try to get a nice mix of color and form. Many of the medicinal herbs seem to have smallish pale purple flowers and/or lots of foliage. But then one can throw in a bright poppy here and there for a bright spot of color. It's all been very fun. The purple bench is our favorite spot for an early evening beverage.

That's a beautiful garden Deb/Bonehead. I'm impressed!

Is it easy to maintain the grass paths? And your beds look very clean!

Congrats on a job well done!

Shoe

We use a push mower for the garden paths, doesn't take long to whistle around. That was an early spring picture, it gets much more unruly mid-summer!

I have some new growth on my pineapple sage!

My golden sage took a beating this winter -- looks rather bedraggled with lots of dead foliage. I trimmed it back pretty hard hoping for a spring recovery.

Beautiful, beautiful, Deb!!

Beautiful gardens. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with a lot of herbs so I don't recognize, they they are beautiful. I like how you have grass paths! I'm sure you love being out in each one!

Deb ~ I've been away from this thread for awhile and just now saw your herb garden pictures. I must say they took my breath away! If my herb garden was that beautiful, I would never go inside My hat is off to you. Thank you for sharing

Deb, your gardens are beautiful

Deb- I had to split this into it's own thread because your garden is too amazing not to share with everyone!! (thanks for drawing my attention to it, vic!)

I love what you've done!!

Last year, Dave built me a herb spiral, which is incredible. This winter, we built new beds in the area surrounding the spiral, which looks to be about as big as your area. I filled some of it with butterfly plants, and some herbs (camomile, rue), but my long term plan is to expand the herbs and add a specific area for medicinal, since we use a lot of those in my salves and soaps and our own medicinal use.

Thanks for the inspiration!! I love it!

Thank you all, what wonderful complements. The herb garden is currently in its winter glory (read: dead stalks and weeds), but will get back into shape as the weather allows. I'll post more photos as the season progresses - as with all gardens, it is ever-evolving.

What do you use for reference for your salves and such? My fav is Rosemary Gladstar's 'Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health.'

Deb, your gardens look like gardens that I DREAM about - just beautiful and I'm looking forward to additional photo's.

I told Trish, it was a shame that such beautiful photo's might get lost or buried in threads/forums.

I've been experimenting and using herbs for our family for almost 10 years now. I think I have a whole reference library

I can't wait to see what your garden looks like this spring!

Your garden is beautiful. We used to have raised beds and grass paths. Our first generation of dobies turned the grass to dirt and now the paths are bark. Hubby likes not having to mow much. I love all the textures you have used in your plantings. The color combinations sound exciting. Will love seeing posts this summer.

'A chicken in every pot.' This is the culinary section, and the first leg of the labyrinth. The sage took a beating this past winter and may need replacing. I had to yank out the rosemary so will get another of that as well - I thought I had a keeper but it just suddenly turned all brown last month. Both the thyme and marjoram got haircuts. The chives and sorrel are doing well, as always. I'll later add in my annuals: basil, parsley, cilantro, and stevia. Take another stab at bay (supposedly hardy for me but I can't seem to get it established...) Dill I plant in a separate bed so I have enough for pickling, and some culinary herbs are multi-taskers and can be found in other sections. If all goes well by mid summer there should be no dirt showing in this particular section. The little plants in the front are volunteer forget-me-nots, which I allow to grow wherever they like until it is time for the intended plant. They make nice little spots of color.

Thank you Deb It's going to be so much fun to watch this come together

Wonderful herb garden.

Beautiful garden , good thing I am not closer or I would be at your door asking for a tour