Herb Garden Design - Pizza Garden

January gave me great weather for herb garden designing.  It was cold and snowy, and I was trapped in my apartment with nowhere to go and a book shelf full of books on landscaping, flowers and herbs.

Since this year we plan to get back into a house and I can actually have a pretty garden in addition to my production garden, I am pondering, scheming and planning.  I thought I would share some of the garden ideas I have pulled together.

I do not know what the yard will look like in the home we choose, so I have opted for theme gardens, some of which are small and cute, that I can plug into the landscape once I know what it is.  These are perfect for someone who want to start experimenting with herbs and does not have much space or time.  In the next few weeks I will share other theme garden ideas.  I will draw plants and shapes out on graph paper to help plan proportions, so I will have those to add to these garden plans for you to enjoy.  Plant lists and quantities will also be included to help your shopping.

A pizza garden at Michigan State University

Today I have for you a garden in a fun shape and theme – A Pizza Garden.

Make this garden leap out by creating a shape that is a circle with a wedge missing. That visual will communicate the intent of this garden.  You can also layout the plants in such a way to look like toppings on the pizza with purple basil in circular pots, or onions and chives in small groupings.  This is a great garden for a sunny spot near a deck or patio and will be a great conversation starter.

Plants to grow here in the Pizza Garden make up the ingredients: tomatoes, onions, peppers, parsley, basil, marjoram and Greek oregano. One can add marigolds around the outside to represent the cheese or the crust.

The scale for this drawing is each 1/4 inch square on the graph is about 3", so 4 squares is a foot. This Garden is approximately a 7 foot diameter circle.  The clay pots are to 12 inch diameter holding one plant each. I suggest a mix of Basil and Chives, but you can use your imagination.

To make this smaller, say 3 to 4 feet in diameter, use a scale of 8 squares to a foot and use only one example of a plant in any given location.

This garden can be edged in plastic garden edger to give it the round shape.  Or you can make it more permanent with cast tuffa or concrete.

Plant Shopping List

3 Purple Basil plants for the pots, I suggest Basil ‘Dark Opal’

2 Basil “Lettuce Leaf’

4 Chive plants for the pots

2 Onion “Spartan Banner’

4 Tomato ‘Roma’

3 Greek Oregano

2 Green Or Red Peppers

3 Parsley ‘Italian Flat Leaf’

3 Marjoram