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Want to make your own vertical herb spiral garden? This compact space saving design can be made with just a few basic steps.

Construction materials and methods vary. So after deciding on the best position and gathering your materials, you can have one built the same day.

Stone filled gabion walls are an elegant twist on this herb spiral | The Micro Gardener

Depending on your budget and taste, herb spirals can be made very economically or be quite elaborate like this one with stone filled gabion walls.

 * [The original link to this image (via Cara-Ornamentals) is no longer available. I have no control over this & apologise for any inconvenience but you’ll find alternative resources below.]

If you like this particular design and want to learn to make the curved wire baskets, see the end of this post for videos and wire basket suppliers for Gabion Herb Spirals. These are some basic instructions for making a gabion wall or visit BlondeMafia or Garden Drum. More instructional videos for gabions are here and here. For the tutorial steps, read on!

Think of this as a typical ‘recipe’ you can follow, substituting ‘ingredients’ you have handy.

4 Steps to Building a Herb Spiral

Herb Spiral Materials List

  • Cardboard (without ink or tape), weed mat or gravel.  These are optional but useful to kill weeds if building your spiral straight on top of lawn. (I avoid carpet because it’s likely been treated with chemicals that will leach into the soil as it breaks down). Alternatively, you may need a drill for drainage holes if building on concrete.
  • Long stake. Secure a 1m (3 ft) length of string to the stake and tie at the other end with a lightweight stake, bamboo cane or chalk. Use this to draw a line on the ground to measure out the circle.

 

Assemble all materials ready to make the herb spiral | The Micro Gardener

Gather edging materials e.g. bricks, pavers, stones, rocks – choose long-lasting materials for a permanent structure.

 

  • Organic matter such as mushroom compost, worm castings, lucerne, Coir peat bricks or coco husk, mulch, straw and garden soil. These help build fertility to feed your garden long term. Quantity depends on diameter of your spiral.
  • Compost (for planting your herbs into). Preferably homemade so it will be full of living microorganisms or alternately, a compost.
  • Rock minerals and organic fertiliser (to add nutrients to your soil).
  • Mulch (whatever you have available) e.g. lucerne/alfalfa, sugarcane, baled grassy mulch hay, pea straw, grass clippings, leaves, etc.
  • Herb seedlings; bay tree and vegetable seedlings if planting.
  • (Optional) pond materials and irrigation fittings if including.


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Where to Locate a Herb Spiral

 

Locate your herb spiral close to the kitchen for easy harvesting. | The Micro Gardener

Choose a spot that ideally receives 5 full hours sun/day and is close to your kitchen for easy access.

 

Orientate your pond or bottom of the spiral on the southern side in the Southern Hemisphere and northern side in the Northern Hemisphere. When it comes to planting, this will allow you to position your plants according to their sun, shade and water requirements.

 

Herb spiral with compass points. | The Micro Gardener

Herb spiral with compass points.

 

How to Build a Herb Spiral

STEP 1: Measure up

Have someone hold or bang the stake into the central point of the ground where you want to position your herb spiral. To determine the perimeter, stretch out the string attached to the centre stake to mark out your circle. Draw a line in the soil with the other stake or bamboo cane tied on the end of it. Or use chalk if you are marking out a hard surface.

Measuring out a herb spiral | The Micro Gardener

An alternative method for marking out your spiral.

 

The diameter averages between 1.5 – 2m (5 – 6.5 ft) or 750cm – 1m (2.5 – 3.25 ft) from the centre.

Tip: If building straight on top of concrete, make sure you drill holes or have adequate drainage.

 

STEP 2:  Your Base

If starting on lawn, you will need to stop weeds from growing. Cardboard can be used for this purpose to sheet mulch. Build the spiral on top. No light = no weeds! Some people use newspapers or thick phone books instead. I choose to avoid adding anything to my organic garden with inks that may be based on genetically modified soy beans.

Cardboard edges need to be well overlapped to block all light. Soak cardboard well with a hose or immerse in a wheelbarrow until very wet. This stops it blowing away and accelerates decomposition.

 

Cardboard base laid for a herb spiral to block weeds. | The Micro Gardener

Cardboard is easily accessible for free from most businesses that pay to have it taken away and recycled. You can tread a little lighter on the planet at the same time!

 

Lay your weed mat or wet cardboard to cover the circle you have marked out. Cardboard will breakdown and add carbon to your soil. It provides a food source for microorganisms. You may also choose to add some organic matter under this, to accelerate breakdown of the cardboard. e.g. chopped vegetable scraps and other green waste from your garden.

 

Herb spiral base pegged out, laid with drainage gravel & pond positioned. | The Micro Gardener

The base for this site has been pegged out, a gravel base laid and pond positioned.

 

STEP 3: Construct the wall structure

Using your edging material of choice, start laying your bricks/rocks on the outer edge. Work inwards to create a spiral shape. Allow about 0.5m (1.6 ft) width to plant into or adjust if making a smaller spiral.

 

Laying out the basic shape of the spiral on top of the gravel base. | The Micro Gardener

To minimise your cost and time, use the dry stone wall method where rocks or bricks are laid on top of each other, overlapping for stability.

 

For a more formal look, use mortar or cement between your bricks or stones.

Tip: Save your best looking materials for the outside ‘face’ and those that will not be seen on the inside of the spiral.

If using heavy rocks or stone, you may prefer to dig a shallow trench around the circumference of the circle. Lay these rocks into it, on top of a layer of cardboard or weed mat to prevent weeds. If using the dry stone wall method, you may find it easier to add your organic materials as you go, to provide support. Adding organic materials at the end for the mortar method.

 

Building a spiral - the width may vary depending on your requirements and space. | The Micro Gardener

A small herb spiral being constructed with bricks inside a raised garden bed with cardboard and gravel added at the base.

 

Once you have your basic shape laid out around the circumference, add a second tier of bricks. Remember, the outside ‘wall’ of your spiral is lowest (e.g. 2 bricks high or perhaps 1-2 rocks depending on size – enough to retain your soil).

 

Pavers have blocked off the end and laid gradually rising to the centre ready for adding organic materials. | The Micro Gardener

Use more bricks or rocks to build the internal spiral walls, gradually increasing the height as you work your way into the centre.

The middle will usually end up about 1m (3 ft) high with a central planting area. It gradually tapers down in height on a light slope to the bottom. You can block it off or add your bog/pond at the base if using.

 

Filling up base with rubble | The Micro Gardener

To minimise the quantity of organic materials required, you may prefer to add some rubble to the centre where the depth is greatest before adding your organic matter.

 

STEP 4: Add your Organic Materials and Soil Nutrients

This will be different, depending on what you have easy access to. Some people only add mulch or straw to their herb spiral and plant into pockets of compost. If you’re on a tight budget or this is all you have access to, then this system of ‘growing soil’ will work fine. Remember ‘dead dirt’ is unlikely to bring you a successful outcome!

 

Like humans, plants thrive on good nutrition.” – Anne Gibson

 

Rather than buying in a trailer load of soil from your landscape yard, you can make your own soil teaming with living microorganisms. Soil that has a good structure (a crumbly fine texture that holds moisture well) is ideal for healthy productive plants.

 

Layering organic matter into the spiral. | The Micro Gardener

To achieve this, add different kinds of organic matter that will break down over time, feeding your plants rather than just garden ‘dirt’ which tends to compact & provides little nutrition.

 

These organic ingredients are likely much cheaper than buying in soil too!


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Good sources of organic matter that will build soil fertility include:

  • well rotted manure;
  • mushroom compost or even better, your own compost;

 

Organic lucerne and sugar cane bales | The Micro Gardener

Lucerne, sugarcane mulch and straw mulches all add organic matter to build soil.

 

 

Collect & bag leaf litter from gutters - it will breakdown into beautiful humus. | The Micro Gardener

Leaves from gutters are rich in nutrients & a free resource you can use to build your garden.

 

Sprinkle rock minerals (crusher dust from your landscapers is also suitable and very economical) and organic fertilisers as you add the organic matter to build in nutrients as a food source.

 

Certified organic powdered fertiliser with trace elements and minerals | The Micro Gardener

Soil Nutrition: Adding plant food that will release nutrients slowly while you build the spiral will reduce maintenance to a minimum.

 

If you have access to biodynamic preps, you may choose to add these too. To assist breakdown and ensure there is enough moisture, water in each layer with liquid seaweed. Expect some natural settling to occur.

 

pH Testers are a low cost tool every gardener should use. | The Micro Gardener

Tip: It’s a good idea to check the pH balance of your organic matter – it may be necessary to sweeten the soil with some dolomite lime if the pH is too high.

 

Moisture loving plants at the bottom of the spiral will thrive if you include some (optional) additional moisture holding ingredients. e.g. coconut fibre (coir peat), sphagnum moss, worm castings or some well aged compost (humus).

 


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Herb spiral planted out with a pond. | The Micro Gardener

Once your herb spiral is built, you will be ready to plant it out.

 

Herb Spiral How to Videos and Resources

These videos focus more on constructing the herb spiral structure, than building the soil. I think you will get a better idea watching several herb spirals being built. They all offer different perspectives and insights!

 

 Watch how to build your soil to feed your plants in a herb spiral, to meet their individual needs. (The video quality is not great but the information is helpful!)

 

This video covers a Permaculture group building a herb spiral with straw and planting into pockets of compost.

 

This video shows a herb spiral made using rocks and soil.

 

Dean Chichelli from The Nature Learning Center shows how to build a Spiral Herb Garden. He mainly uses straw and then plants into pockets of compost at the end.

 

This last video shows how to build a very compact herb spiral with bricks.

 

Diagramatic technical specifications plan – Full size printable.

 

Herb Spiral Diagramatic Plan with Specifications

 

Tips for Building Your Herb Spiral

  • To fill gaps in the perimeter curves of your spiral, use small, cut or broken bricks and stones.
  • You can fill niches with ground covers like oregano or pennyroyal. Sphagnum moss can be pushed into gaps up the wall and a small amount of compost tucked inside to plant into. Or make a seed ball with some compost, a little clay and moist coconut fibre (coir peat) rolled up with seeds inside and push against the wall into the crevice. When the seeds are moist they will germinate and grow into the gaps.
  • Finish with decorative and smaller stones, rocks or bricks at the top.

 

Giant herb spiral with 50m pathway. | The Micro Gardener

For parks, playgrounds, schools and community gardens where you may want to build a larger spiral, adapt the design to build it on ground level instead. Allow enough space for a pathway alongside the planting area so instead of reaching in to the centre for easy access, you can walk around the spiral to pick your herbs.

 

  • To add a water garden at the base, dig out a hole and add black plastic to line it. You can use any container that will hold sufficient water and grow water loving species like water chestnuts and cress. If you live in a dry climate, use the ‘pond’ as a reservoir to water the garden from.

 

Herb Spirals Before & After – Some Inspiration!

Check out my Herb Spiral photo album on Facebook for more inspiring ideas.

 

A herb spiral - before & after 12 months | The Micro Gardener

LEFT: When spiral was first planted | RIGHT: After 12 months – depending what plants you grow, the edging may not matter!

 

 Really cramped for space? You can still design a mini sized herb spiral!

Herb spiral within a raised bed. | The Micro Gardener

Compact herb spiral in a raised garden bed.

 

Herb spiral on a small allotment. | The Micro Gardener

A clever way to maximise space on a small allotment garden!

 

Bamboo & rock herb spiral - before & after | The Micro Gardener

An alternative building method – with a pile of soil in the centre, then adding bamboo stakes & rock borders.

 More herb spiral photos

 

Gabion Herb Spirals

Since first posting the gabion herb spiral design, there has been incredible interest from all over the world in building them. The original image at the top that linked to Cara-Ornamentals is no longer working. Below I’ve listed some suppliers and resources that may be helpful if you’re interested in sourcing materials to build your own. Or search on “gabion wire baskets” or “wire mesh”:

 

Tutorial Videos on Gabions

 

Learn how to make a narrow wire basket you can cut to size for your design using these techniques

Learn how to use free form galvanized wire to form a basket you can fill with stones

 

Learn how to assemble a gabion basket step by step

 

 

 

Ready to Plant your Herb Spiral?

In How to Plant out a Herb Garden, I share a herb plant list to make it easy for you to know what to plant where in your herb spiral and tips for laying it out.


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Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. I only recommend products or services I use personally or believe will add value to my readers. Please read my Disclosure Statement for more details.

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© Copyright Anne Gibson, The Micro Gardener 2016. https://themicrogardener.com. All rights reserved.

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