Setting up your Italian herb garden will provide a steady supply of Italian herbs at your fingertips to prepare yummy pesto sauce, lip-smacking meatballs, Italian sausages, delicious tomato sauces for pasta, and the list is endless.

Indigenous Italian Herbs

The incredible taste and aroma of Mediterranean herbs such as parsley, thyme, sage, basil, rosemary, oregano, garlic, and fennel seeds give an extra zing to the popularity of the Italian cuisine the world over.

Parsley is generally treated as an annual to avoid its stronger taste as a biennial plant in the second year. You have a choice of planting the seeds in direct sunlight or in partial shade. It is a great addition to your recipes as garnish and seasoning.  

The flavor of thyme is legendary as part of port and lamb seasoning. Given adequate sunlight and soil, this lovely perennial spreads quickly and easily.

Sage is another herb that is excellent with meat dishes used as stuffing for pork, poultry, and lamb. Parsley and sage seeds take ages to germinate. Sage is happy to thrive under partial shade but needs frequent watering. New shoots of Sage have the best flavor.

Of more than 40 basil varieties, sweet basil possesses the best flavor. Basil seeds are best sown indoors and then transplanted into the outdoor garden in a sunny location.

Oregano meaning "joy of the mountain" in Greek requires grows best in partial shade during hot summers and make a great hedging plant in your herb garden.

Garlic is the most commonly used herb in Italian cuisines. Choose large starter cloves to plant in moist soil. They are equally easy to grow, dry, and store.

Sunlight, Soil, and Water

Most of the Italian herbs need lots of sun, sufficiently moist soil, and adequate water especially during intense summer heat. Water logging during rainfall should be strictly prevented for healthy growth of the herbs in the Italian herb garden.

Italian herbs tend to thrive well both indoors in pots and containers and outdoors in your backyard. You can even use Italian herb garden kits to set up your Italian herb garden.