What Is an Informal Herb Garden?
An informal herb garden is generally the opposite of the tightly geometric, formal herb garden you might associate with a knot garden or a symmetrical circular bed around a centerpiece. Instead of straight lines and matched pairs of plants, an informal design tends to favor curved beds, mixed plantings, and a layout that looks like it grew in naturally over time — even though it still benefits from some basic planning.
That doesn’t mean there’s no plan at all. Even a relaxed, informal herb garden usually works best when you’ve thought about which herbs spread aggressively, which ones need more sun or drier soil, and where paths and access points should go so you can actually reach the plants to harvest them.
Example of an Informal Herb Garden Layout
A simple example of an informal herb garden might be a curved bed along a fence or property edge, planted with a loose mix of culinary herbs like thyme, oregano, sage, and chives, with taller plants such as fennel or dill toward the back and low, spreading herbs like creeping thyme near the front edge. Herbs might also be tucked into gaps between vegetables or flowers rather than kept in their own separate, dedicated plot.
Another common example is a cluster of containers and pots near a kitchen door or on a patio, arranged informally rather than in a straight row — this works well for small spaces or anywhere in-ground planting isn’t practical.
Design Ideas for an Informal Herb Garden
Mixing Herbs Into Flower Borders and Vegetable Beds
Many herbs have attractive foliage or flowers and can be worked directly into an existing flower border or vegetable garden rather than isolated on their own. Basil, parsley, and chives are commonly tucked between vegetables, while herbs like lavender or catmint can add color and texture to an ornamental bed.
Free-Form Beds With Curved Edges and Paths
Instead of straight rows, consider a bed with curved or irregular edges, with a narrow path winding through so you can reach plants without stepping on the soil. This layout tends to suit a larger plot better than a small one, simply because there’s more room to let the design breathe.
Containers and Pots for Small or Paved Spaces
If you’re short on garden space, or your soil isn’t ideal, herbs in pots or a window box can still give you an informal feel. Grouping several containers of different sizes near a doorway or on a patio is a practical option for culinary herbs you want close at hand. Our container gardening guide covers pot, soil, and watering basics that apply just as much to herbs as to flowering annuals.
Self-Seeding and Pollinator-Friendly Plantings
Letting some herbs flower and self-seed — dill, fennel, and borage are common examples — can give an informal garden a looser, more naturalistic look over time, and the flowers tend to attract bees and other pollinators. Keep in mind that self-seeding herbs can spread further than intended, so it’s worth monitoring them if you want to keep the garden from becoming too crowded.
What Is the 70/30 Rule in Gardening?
The “70/30 rule” is a general garden design guideline suggesting that roughly 70% of a planting should be made up of a smaller number of reliable, structural plants, with the remaining 30% reserved for a wider variety of accent or seasonal plants. It’s typically discussed in the context of broader landscape or border design rather than herb gardens specifically, and none of the herb garden sources reviewed for this piece mention it directly, so treat it as a loose rule of thumb rather than a strict formula, and adapt it to your own space rather than following it rigidly.
Top Herbs to Consider for an Informal Herb Garden
A reasonable starting list of commonly grown culinary herbs includes basil, dill, chives, oregano, sage, tarragon, thyme, chervil, coriander (cilantro), fennel, mint, and parsley. Beyond cooking, some herbs are also grown for scent or ornamental value, such as lemon balm, catmint, and lavender. Which ones work best for you will depend on your climate, the amount of sun your space gets, and how you plan to use the herbs — this list is a general starting point rather than a fixed top 10.
Herbs That Should Not Be Planted Beside Each Other
A few herbs are worth keeping some distance from others, mainly because of how they grow rather than any proven chemical effect on neighboring plants. Mint and lemon balm, in particular, spread aggressively by underground roots and can quickly crowd out neighboring herbs if left unchecked — many gardeners keep these in containers rather than letting them grow freely in a shared bed. Beyond spreading habit, there isn’t strong, consistent evidence for many of the companion-planting “enemies” sometimes mentioned online, so it’s reasonable to be cautious about treating those claims as settled fact. If you’d like to understand more about how herb life cycles affect planning, see this related piece on whether herbs flower in their second year, which covers biennial herbs like parsley and fennel that behave differently from annuals and true perennials.
Basic Care Tips for an Informal Herb Garden
Most common culinary herbs prefer well-drained soil and at least a few hours of direct sun each day, though some, like mint and parsley, tolerate a bit more shade and moisture than others. Working some compost or organic matter into the soil before planting is generally helpful, and a light mulch can help retain moisture in drier climates. Because an informal garden mixes plants with different needs, it helps to group herbs with similar water and sun requirements near each other where practical, even within a loosely arranged bed.