Herb Spirals: Are They Worth the Hype? 

I didn't know herb spirals were a symbol of permaculture. I only saw them as "pinterest projects" that were neat, but mostly seemed like conversation or art pieces in a landscape. I can see now your point on how they are tools for learning. I personally prefer tucking my herbs in several different spaces throughout the garden, so I'm somewhat "forced" to meander through the garden to get to what I need.

Hmm... I really just like the look of them. They have this fairy garden look that I love.

It s a good project for someone just getting into gardening or permaculture. It's tangible and easy to accomplish. Confidence boosters early on are really important. And seeing some off those perennial herbs come back the next year is super sweet.

I'm laughing. My herb spiral is my most successful and beautiful attempt at permaculture. I'm in the Caribbean. It's hot, wet and humid. It's clay. Rosemary roots rot in the ground. An herb spiral is my only hope of growing some herbs. In my location it rained every. single. day. for nearly 3 years. This year has been the first decent-ish dry season in a few years.

This concept was so amusing to me: I've been doing permaculture (and Hugelkultur) for YEARS across the US and in Canada, and have NEVER heard of an herb spiral! I always thought the idea was to scatter herbs throughout the food forest where they support other plants in guilds. I mean, it's a lovely idea, but in anything below Zone 8, some of those herbs aren't going to make it through the winter. I can't overwinter rosemary, for example, since I left Zone 8, unless I keep it in a greenhouse. Hmmm. Who came up with this concept? Was it one of the permie gurus?

Herbs are just tucked in everywhere, more than I need to harvest because I think they are pretty

This was new to me! It looks a lovely idea, utilising old materials and keeping herbs together for easy access - I might have a go in my wilderness garden, but currently I just put them fairly randomly in my veg area, with a bit of a nod to companion planting ( dill with beans, basil with tomatoes) with some favourites like parley in my rescued cattle feed troughs by the door for easy access. So far my biggest problem is whether to let the slugs destroy them, or let the chickens out to destroy the slugs and lose most of my other small plants to the chickens!…. But I like the idea. And I have plenty of space. My microclimate up here on the hill is going to change a LOT when my fledgling hedge thickens up and breaks the wind from the north in the winter. I think a herb spiral might be interesting as that happens…

We have herbs kind of everywhere, though I love the look of the spiral. Might build one in our front yard as we plan and design that. It would make for a great piece of visual interest while hopefully providing us with a ton of herbs. We do grow a handful of herbs in portable buckets. I find it useful to have them handy to move around the garden if something dies or pests move it or to bring pollinators over before something new is established.

I like integrating my herbs to different parts of my yard and mixing them into guilds- probably because much of my yard is inspired by you and your yard. I love your yard so much! Also since I am outside in my yard so much with my kids more of my yard is a zone 1.

I used to think herb spirals were just kind of odd and witchy before I knew better. I actually just put on in my mom’s yard because she wanted something to cover up a stump and we had a bunch of slate laying around. However I’m nervous the dark rocks will increase the likelihood the plants will die out with the heat.

I don't have anything against a herb spiral, and I was thinking that when we eventually build a house on our land I will want a bed of some kind near the house dedicated to everyday culinary herbs, but to be honest, I mainly go with your approach of placing plants dotted around the food forest area and in between annual veg, as per their needs. I think the problem people have with permaculture is that when you really try to 'design' a natural system it's just so immensely complex that people can get overwhelmed, so simplifying it all back to a herb spiral, or comfrey, is easier for their brains. But that brings us back to slow, simple solutions and inviting feedback... even someone experienced with the concepts of permaculture needs time to learn a particular piece of land, the soil, the climate etc (especially with climate change making it all super changeable). As David the Good pointed out in his series on Comfrey recently, we need to always go back to the idea of context specificity...o

I know of more herb spirals that have been removed than ones still being used and maintained. I participated in building one about 25 years ago in a demonstration garden, over the next couple of years, it really didn't do that well, then the lot was sold, and developed. Overall, I've been underwhelmed with herb spirals.

Yep. I don't have one because of space and because my sandy soil drainage makes raised beds not work in my area.

I've seen herb spirals in school gardens so, as a teaching tool, that context makes sense. Herbs are often different sizes when mature though so something like a traditional rosemary or a towering dill plant outgrows and overpowers the space. Tarragon, oregano, thyme and annual herbs like basils, shiso, nasturtium make more sense to me in that format. The spiral form does add whimsy and beauty.

I completely agree with your description of herb spirals. I did start one when I first began to transform my backyard into a "food forest". It has been an invaluable teacher and important visual focal point. But not necessary. I did learn a lot about individual plant requirements, tolerance, water needs, etc. It became a beautiful point from which many learning opportunities evolved; a small self-contained area of multiple microsystems. Thanks for all that you do!

I hope herb spirals haven't discouraged people below a zone 6 and put them off when virtually none of their herbs perennialized. A couple of herb bed favorites are sometimes/borderline over-winter-ers here (4B) - I can get lavender to occasionally come back and a very sunny spot near my foundation has worked for tarragon, but an exposed raised bed is going to make it harder for some things to return.

I love you and this channel so much. Thank you!

Reading the comments, I am amused people seem to respond to the spiral vs spread out/with guilds as an either/or thing. I have dbl of just about everything 'herby', in case I lose one. So I have the formal herb garden, but I also have duplicates spread out under trees and stuff.

Great stuff. I’ve never actually considered a spiral until I saw this video. You’ve impaired me to start sourcing some material.

Herb spirals and keyhole gardens both seemed so forced to me when I was studying Permaculture. Glad you took the time to put them in their place as teaching tools not mandatory structures.

I never heard of an herb spiral today, but I created something like it. My abandoned yard had a large clump of salal and blackberries in the middle of it. I guessed the center must be an old stump. So we cut back all the blackberries, and most of the salal to find an old first growth rotting stump in the middle. the whole structure formed a mound. We left the main salal clump to recover and become a part of my permaculture set up. One 6 months later later, my husband was planning to mow the lawn, so I moved my potted plants, many of them herbs on to the mounded area, which was still bare for the most part. I thought it looked good, so I made that area my herb garden around the stump, starting with a tree rosemary closest and highest and I started taking my dug up rocks and made a border as we continued to rebuild the yard. The herb spiral, as you explained it, is one of those logical conclusions anyone with some horticultural knowledge and naturalizing leans would come up with, plus a medieval garden flair added. The year the salal has recovered beautifully and I am looking forward to a nice harvestable crop. Salal is a great plant to live with by the way. The roots are shallow and shoots still come up all around the stump for 6/7 ft, but they pop out of the ground so easily! We won't talk about the remaining blackberry roots, Lol. I like the spiral idea, just for the aesthetics, I may go back in and add some urbanite to my tiered herb garden.

Never heard of it before. Thanks

Thank you for this really interesting perspective on herb spirals. I created a very small one in my kitchen garden last fall. It’s too small to be effective but it was so much fun to research and create (with a pile of left over bricks). If I had a large space just outside my kitchen I think I would absolutely make a huge one. I love the beauty of the spiral and the whimsy it can add to a space while still being useful.

I agree, you don’t have to have one, but I think I’ll always want one 😄 it’s one of my favorite parts of the garden. We build a herb spiral for 4 reasons: -to teach and permaculture to visitors -for easy herb picking when cooking (all in 1 place) -because it is just really beautiful 😊 -We put “new” (to us, like from a pland/seed swap for example) herbs in the herb spiral first to remind us to take cuttings or save seeds and later put those in other parts of the garden. This is also an easy way to observe them daily and learn where in the garden this “new” herb would do well. We have a list of locals who also want us to help them build one at their place and started looking into permaculture just from us showing them the herb spiral.

Love the shear beauty of your wind chimes.

Thanks for this reflection! There was an edible garden tour (with bike routes between the 4 gardens) - zone 8b/ McMinnville Oregon in around 2000. I was intrigued with one of my friend's herb spiral at the back fence. I remember thinking I prefer my herbs scattered through the garden, with culinary herbs near my front door! It was cute, but rather far from the kitchen and easy access. I also remember enjoying the Orach he had volunteering throughout the beds, still on my list to get some growing! Another of the gardens was a mini CSA on Sesame Street (!) The gardener had looked at the large lawn between house and sidewalk on his corner lot, & thought 'i don't really like to mow!!' So he began considering options! He came up with putting in raised beds, and since there was room for a number, he ended up growing more than his family could consume - so started a little CSA! He put strawberries and raspberries close to the sidewalk, and neighbors could pick some as they passed by. He had 2 black composters near the sidewalk as well, and mulched with straw. His lot would have been a good place for an herb spiral, as a teaching tool

This is a reasoned explanation of Herb spirals. Well done.

Good to know! I moved into a share house with a pretty well established herb spiral in the back yarden. Thyme, oregano, and sage really dominate the top/middle and we struggle to keep the rest populated, though I’m having some success with overwintered parsley that will hopefully sow itself in the back edge. My roommate had to give me a crash course for what plants go where, I wasn’t aware of that 😅

I grow my herbs in a spinning tower planter. Is this acceptable?

I have a spiral in my tiny garden. I find it is functional mostly as decorative element or great way to save space in a small garden but otherwise it feels mostly a hype thing. And to be honest at growing season you dont see your spiral much because its full of plants haha

I'd never heard of herb spirals before - they look very cool! I personally don't have the time to build one let alone figure out what to plant where in such a compact space! Good for some, not for me.

First. I've never heard of an herb spiral. I just have a rectangular raised bed box with grow bags right under the deck. I only have chives and spotted monarda and one lonely strawberry there.

I never heard about them and they wouldn't survive in my climate. We have these sudden, violent thunderstorms and they would crush those little piles.

Thank you great information.

how timely! I had just heard of this idea and was wondering about it :).

Haha good to know I'm still legit without a herb spiral 😁 I heard of them but they didn't seem right for my garden

as far as i knew it was pretty purely a decorative way to have an herb garden/raised bed. i didnt know it h ad anything to do with permaculture or etc until i talked to a "teacher' ( lets just say the quotes are there for a reason) of permaculture design, who assumed i wanted one. they are HARD for the disabled to reach over, unless they are narrow and intensely vertical (and small) able bodied only is bad design in my book- and certainly with my bad knees, bad back, and etc? not fun. they often create a block of the view, because there is a "hill" suddenly there. in a small garden that can be good or bad, but it needs to be planned. the walls of the spiral are usually made of bulky material, which means that you are using up a lot of space for your spiral walls...

I have been dreaming of an herb spiral for more than ten years 😛 But just a few days ago a big pile of rocks appeared on my yard, its becoming an herb rockery 😊 i dont see why would i bother w the spiral while i can get the same benefits from this random pile of stones, just slightly orginize some of them. The different microclimates are there, just like in a spiral, i just dont need to do that excessive work to create that overly stylish structure 👍

I have never heard of an herb spiral. I would think you could have worms in your hardiness zone 8. My neighbor has worms that survive our winters here in zone 4. Also on the west side of Wyoming at 6300 feet they have worms that make it through the winters.

Is there ever an issue reaching the herbs in the center? Or is there an ideal outer circumference? We currently have herbs interplanted throughout our garden. The downside is harvesting smaller amounts for cooking becomes a bit more complicated.

Never heard of them! They're beautiful at least

Here it's Swales. Everywhere, every scale.

Halfway thru the video it occured to me that if one has an herb spiral (worm bin, etc) just because they're "required" to practice permaculture, then they're just practicing a form virtue signaling. 😂 And that just cracks me up.

As someone who farmed my whole life in the desert. I never heated of permaculture until I saw this video. After watching this video I realized how much of pure bs it is .