How to Create an Herb Wheel

Garden plans at Hidden Bluff took a different turn this week. It was clear the original plans needed altering. The challenges of a wet and unusually cold Spring to facing a new city gardening nemesis, squirrels, have forced me to make some adjustments. Squirrels! Those cheeky little boogers ate my tulips and seeds. And the birds continue to eat every speck of new green life that emerged plus any seeds the squirrels left. Grrrrrr! However, an amazing deal on raised beds at Costco caught my eye the other day. It was a sign from God! Today I set up those raised beds out in the back and bought a large roll of critter netting. And on the side of the house, I decided that an herb wheel would be a better way to solve a few of the gardening problems I was having there. So, if you want to create an herb wheel keep reading.

How to create an Herb Wheel

Things weren’t thriving in the side house garden. So, I decided to corral everything into an herb wheel into the sunniest part of that section. Thankfully, a nice pile of old, moss covered bricks were left on the side of the house which would make a perfect herb wheel. Herb wheels are a lot of fun to make! They are easy, economical, and add old world elegance to your yard. You can make them in lots of different ways, but the brick ones are my favorites. I created a brick herb wheel at our very first home with a bird bath in the middle, and it was lovely. Fast forward to house number three and the herb wheel makes another debut at Hidden Bluff. So, if you have a pile of bricks sitting somewhere this is a great project to use them on!

First of all, I leveled the ground as best I could with gravel as a base. Our side yard is downward sloping with a tier in the middle, so a gravel base helped to level things. After laying a foundation of gravel, I placed the bricks in a big circle about 7-8 ft across. This took some configuring to get it right, and it needed to be bigger to accommodate the lettuces and herbs. However, you can make your herb wheel the size you want. It can also be strictly ornamental. In this case, the herb wheel is going be a part of our kitchen garden, so a bigger one that allowed for lettuces, green onions, and leeks in addition to herbs was the plan.

After creating a circle of brick, a series of brick lines creating an equal division of spaces were placed. I then filled these spaces with soil. There are spaces for lettuces, kale, green onions, leeks, basils and other miscellaneous herbs. And in the middle is a French lavender. Surrounding the lavender are chives. And surrounding the outer brick circle is English thyme. English thyme makes a lovely mini-hedge for an herb wheel.

Tips for your herb wheel

*Unless your ground is really level, a base of sand or gravel may be useful for this project. Our side yard is pretty lumpy!

*Keep in mind that if you use brick some settling will occur and adjusting may be needed, but this is easy.

*Also, look at pictures of herb wheels to help you get some ideas, especially if you are new to growing herbs.

*Make sure your herb wheel has a few hours of sun. Many herbs don’t need full sun, but a few hours are necessary for healthy herbs. Their partial shade tolerance is one of the many reasons why I love them, not to mention they are also cold hardy and most self-seed and/or are perennial. Three to four hours of sun should be good for most of the common herbs.

It will take a season or two to fill in and really look established, so I will take photos later on. But this is how to make an herb wheel. One of the things I love to do is dry herbs for cooking and teas. You can read more about that here and here. It is also a good chance to try new varieties of herbs. We now have a selection of oreganos, sages, and basils. But the fun in this project is to create an herb wheel that is unique to you!

Have a beautiful day!