Herb and Vegetable Gardening in the Texas Hill Country

By Sharon Deeny Comal Master Gardener and Avid Herbalist

Growing herbs here in hill country is a joy. Most of our favorite herbs like well drained soil and lots of sun. What they don’t need is lots of water and nutrients. And, deer won’t touch most of the herbs! Since we are all gardening on rock, you will want to bring in some soil to build a raised bed for your herbs. You can get by with about 4” of soil and an edging of rocks from the yard.

Put the thyme, oregano and marjoram in the front of the garden to trail over the rock (or any other source you use to hold the soil). You can plant these perennial herbs anytime this spring. Wait and plant basil and Mexican Mint after the soil warms up a bit. Basil is an annual, so you will have to replace it unless you take cuttings and overwinter them. Mexican Mint (sometimes called Mexican Mint Marigold) is a perennial and takes the place of tarragon in the hill country garden. It is great added to fish and chicken dishes or to summer tea and punches. Be careful with rosemary since it will get really big! The trailing forms seem to be easier to keep in shape and blooms all year round. Culinary sage also does well. It will get about 15” tall, so put it toward the back of your garden. Parsley does well, too, and can even be used as an edging for borders.

Veggies are more challenging. You will want to plant in a raised bed, but average garden soil is usually too light. Add at least half compost to form a soil that won’t dry out in our afternoon heat. Some veggie gardeners just add compost and sow directly into it. You will want at least 6” or 8” of soil/compost in your raised bed. And, you must protect your bed/s from deer and rabbits. A wire fence is best. You can use some deer fencing, but don’t allow it to go all the way to the ground. It will trap snakes in the mesh which is a problem none of us need!

The beds are easily built with lumber, but you can use rock or cement blocks too. Gardening catalogues have nice raised beds for sale, but I find them expensive for growing veggies. However, many gardeners just punch holes in bags of compost or soil and plant directly into the bag. Instant raised garden! You can also buy bags from garden catalogues and then put your own mixture of soil and compost into them. I’m experimenting with bags to grow pole beans this year. You may need to cover the bags with mulch to keep the temperature inside the bag from getting too high.

Now, you need to think about water. You will need to water about three times a week unless we have rain. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation is the best route. Spray type sprinklers waste water and contribute to plant disease by allowing water to drip off of leaves and then splash viruses up from the soil. To keep the soil moist and to ward of those rampant Texas weeds, you will want mulch. I prefer a layer of newspaper (two or three sheets thick) covered with either straw or other loose mulch. You can, of course, use fabric mulch or plastic mulch made for the purpose. Whatever you use needs to be water permeable, of course. Red mulches have been proven to increase tomato production. But, I’m cheap!

Since you need to plant your veggies early (March for tomatoes and beans) I use hoops made from PVC pipe secured by sticking them over rebar that I have pounded into the ground. Again, you can get some lovely hoops in garden catalogues, but remember, I’m cheap! The hoops can be used to support garden fabric to protect young plants from wind, late cold weather, heavy rain and hail, and in August (when I start my fall crops), hot sun. Fabric is also a great way to keep nasty pests like stink bugs off your tomatoes. Just remember that many plants need to have insects like bees to pollinate their flowers, so you may have to open the fabric in the mornings to allow them access. You can also use bird netting over the hoops to keep birds out of berries, peas, etc.

Start with a small raised bed this year. Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy to add more raised beds.