Think Beyond Pots: Design A Landscape With Herbs

2026-06-30

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What if herbs go beyond the small, contained, and kitchen-window plants we use them for? Herbs could do so, so much more! In this episode, I sit down with Sue Goetz, a garden designer, author, and herb obsessive, to explore the many different ways we can use our favorite herbs in our garden landscape. She has a five-foot rosemary hedge in her backyard and uses chamomile between her stepping stones. She also grows lavender, sage, and catmint as full-on landscape plants that feed her, scent her garden, attract pollinators, and...

What if herbs go beyond the small, contained, and kitchen-window plants we use them for? Herbs could do so, so much more! In this episode, I sit down with Sue Goetz, a garden designer, author, and herb obsessive, to explore the many different ways we can use our favorite herbs in our garden landscape. She has a five-foot rosemary hedge in her backyard and uses chamomile between her stepping stones. She also grows lavender, sage, and catmint as full-on landscape plants that feed her, scent her garden, attract pollinators, and keep deer out. So not only do herbs have flavor, fragrance, and medicinal properties, they’re also low-maintenance once established. Let's dive in!

In this episode, we learn:

[01:38] Meet garden designer and author Sue Goetz!
[02:09] How Sue developed a passion for plants
[05:07] Why herbs are the most "generous" plants
[06:28] Why scent is the most underutilized sense in our gardens
[08:57] How to start treating herbs as large landscape shrubs, trees, and hedges
[10:45] Which herbs are best for replacing large plants/hedges?
[12:23] How to get large creeping and upright rosemary hedges
[15:09] Invest in quality soil and compost to build your garden’s foundation with Espoma Organic!
[16:33] What are some deer-resistant herbs that we can use as protectors?
[19:02] Which smaller herbs work best for edging borders and invisible fences
[20:24] Is Alyssum an herb?
[20:48] Landscape herb sun needs and chamomile ground cover
[24:37] How chives double as a sturdy pollinator magnet and an easy DIY gift
[26:25] How can we use herbs as landscape plants to attract more pollinators?
[29:04] Why you might be killing your lavender and how it actually wants to be treated
[32:10] How to pair landscape herbs together (and which aggressive spreaders belong in pots)
[34:34] Why you should grow what you love and then try one "crazy" experiment
[38:55] How to use colored basil for landscape pop and cut flower arrangements
[41:21] Simple ratio for mixing your own herbal bath salts from the garden
[44:26] Where to find Sue, her blog, and her themed container herb gardening book!