PDC LESSON 2.9 DESIGN – 5 STEPS TO BUILD A HERB SPIRALS

 

 

PERMACULTURE COURSE AGRO-ECONOMY

PDC LESSON 2.9 DESIGN – 5 STEPS TO BUILD A HERB SPIRALS

How to build a herb spiral

Now let's get started with the actual construction of the spiral. It's not difficult but I do recommend reading through all of the steps first before you start, then go through each step one at a time again while following the directions.

Step 1: Draw the Circle on the Ground

The first step is to measure accurately. Take a long stake and stick it in the ground where you want the middle of your herb spiral to be.

Now tie a string to the stake and stretch out its other end to a length that matches the radius you desire. Attach the loose end of the string to another stick or any means in which you can drag it around in a circle to mark the ground.

Now make a circle with it; this will help you build out the walls in place accurately. You can also use chalk if the surface you are building on is hard like on concrete.

Make two or three concentric circles (depending on how many times around the spiral you want to go) with a distance of a foot or so in between them. You can adjust all these lengths to your taste.

Step 2: Place a Barrier on the Ground

Building your herb spiral in your lawn means dealing with weeds. To stop weeds from growing up from the bottom and damaging your plants, you can soak cardboard totally wet so that they don't move from their place when you lay them on top of the marked circle we made in the previous step.

When the cardboard is broken down, it adds up to the organic matter and promotes micro-organisms' growth. It also kills anything trying to live beneath it. This works better than liner you'd put below mulch because you still need water drainage ultimately.

Step 3: Build the Herb Spiral Diagram

With your choice of edging material, build up a spiral inward of about a foot wide. Now, after making your outline of the marked circle, you can put a second tier of the chosen material.

The walls that are on the perimeter of the circle are supposed to be lower than in the next innermost wall. As it spirals inward it grows taller.

What you use to construct the walls is up to you. I'd recommend some kind of pavers, bricks, or other smaller items that stack well and are short enough to be able to curve around the diameter of the spiral.

Your spiral will taper down from the middle in the form of a slope. At the base of it, you can add a pond of water if you want or any other decorative ideas. Usually, the middle point is the highest at about 3 to 4 feet in height.

Step 4: Add Your Compost & Fertilizer

Now that your herb spiral design is completed, almost, it's time to work on the soil and organic matter. It's one of the essential parts of this entire procedure.

How and what you use in your soil composition depends upon the availability of specific stuff in your region and how much you plan on spending. There's no need to spend a bunch of cash. A normal bag of fertilizer will do the trick.

Ideally, if you want to save some money, you can put cheaper mulch in the whole spiral and add in compost pockets where you want to plant your herbs.

It's suggested to plant herbs that require more moisture to the lower parts, and for moisture-retaining, you can also use coconut fibre.

You can use other organic matters to make your soil more fertile, for example, worm castings, mushroom compost, homemade compost, rotten manure, perlite, and vermiculite, etc.

We recommend keeping the pH of the herb spiral in check. If the pH is unbalanced or too high, you can maintain it using dolomite lime; it is used to sweeten the soil.

Step 5: Plant Your Herbs, Flowers, & Succulents

You're now ready to plant your herbs. I also recommend planting flowers around the other areas and even succulents. We've talked about how to propagate succulents, so just a few that you purchase can go far over time.

Why Should I Build Herb Spiral?