How to Grow Basil and Kitchen Herbs

GardenDraft Team · May 8, 2026 · 6 min read

Part of: Garden Planning Guides · How to Grow Vegetables — Crop Guides A–Z

Herbs are the highest-value square foot in the garden. A few dollars of plants replace a steady stream of expensive grocery-store clamshells, most herbs thrive in a pot by the kitchen door, and they ask for almost nothing. Basil is the gateway herb, so we'll lead with it, then cover the rest.

Basil: warmth, and pinch relentlessly

Basil is a true heat-lover: it sulks and blackens in cold, so wait until nights are reliably above 50°F, well past your last frost date, before it goes outside. Give it full sun, steady moisture, and then the one trick that matters: pinch constantly. Every time you snip the top of a stem just above a pair of leaves, the plant branches into two, growing bushier and more productive. Left unpinched, basil races to flower, and once it flowers the leaves turn bitter and growth slows — so pinch out flower buds the moment you see them. The herb famously pairs with tomatoes in the kitchen and the bed alike (see companion planting).

The two herb families

Most kitchen herbs fall into two camps that want opposite things.

• Mediterranean herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage) evolved on dry, sunny hillsides. They want full sun, lean soil, and to dry out between waterings. The fastest way to kill them is rich soil and overwatering. They're tough perennials in mild climates.
• Tender, leafy herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley) want richer soil, more water, and frequent harvesting. Most are annuals that bolt to seed in heat.

Cilantro and dill bolt — plan for it

Cilantro is the classic frustration: it bolts to seed almost overnight in summer heat, the leaves turning ferny and the plant flowering before you've used much. Bolting isn't a sign you did anything wrong. Treat cilantro and dill as cool-season crops, sow a fresh pinch every few weeks (succession planting), and let some flower to feed pollinators and self-sow. Why heat-driven bolting happens is covered in why vegetables bolt.

Harvesting is the maintenance

With herbs, picking is the care, as regular harvesting keeps plants bushy and delays flowering. Take from the top, never more than a third at once, and harvest in the morning when oils are highest. Most herbs grow happily in containers, which also lets you give Mediterranean types the sharp drainage they crave and pull tender ones indoors before frost. Dial in your sowing dates on the planting calendar.