How Many Herb Plants Do I Need to Create a Herb Garden?
- Pepperpot Nursery
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Handy Beginner's Guide
If you've decided to start a herb garden, you've probably hit the same question every beginner asks: how many herb plants do I actually need?
It sounds like a simple question. In practice, the answer depends on a few things: how often you cook with fresh herbs, what dishes you make, how much space you have, and whether you want fresh herbs for a few weeks or all season long.
This guide walks you through it step by step. Not just a quick list, but a working answer that will help you avoid buying too few (and running out by July) or too many (and watching them go to waste).
How Many Herb Plants Do I Need to Create a Herb Garden? Article Outline:
1. How Many Herb Plants Do You Actually Need?
For most UK households starting from scratch, between 7 and 12 herb plants is the right number.
That gives you enough variety to cover everyday cooking (salads, pastas, roasts, herbal teas) and enough volume that you're not constantly waiting for plants to recover after harvest. If you cook a lot, entertain often, or want to dry herbs for winter, you'll want closer to 15 or more.
A solid starter combination looks like this:
1 to 2 basil plants
1 to 2 parsley plants
1 mint plant (in its own pot)
1 thyme plant
1 rosemary plant
1 sage plant
1 to 2 chive plants
Optional: 1 coriander, 1 oregano, 1 French tarragon
That said, the right number for you depends on a few key things. Let's look at them properly.
2. What Factors Decide How Many Herb Plants You Need to Start a Herb Garden?
Before you start adding plants to your basket, it's worth thinking through the four questions below. They make a much bigger difference than any one-size-fits-all list.
How often do you actually cook with fresh herbs?
If you cook three or four meals a week using fresh herbs, you'll get through a lot more leaves than you think. A single basil plant can be stripped clean by one batch of pesto. A generous handful of parsley for a sauce will dent a small plant noticeably.
If you're an occasional cook who reaches for fresh herbs at weekends, a smaller selection (5 to 7 plants) is plenty. If herbs feature in your daily cooking, double it.
How many people are you cooking for?
A household of one or two needs less volume than a family of four or five. Recipes scale up. Garnishes don't, but the actual fresh herbs in pasta sauces, soups, stews, and roast vegetables do.
As a rough rule of thumb:
Solo or couple: 5 to 7 plants
Family of three or four: 8 to 12 plants
Family of five or more, or regular entertainers: 12 to 15+ plants
How much space do you have?
A sunny windowsill comfortably holds 3 to 5 small herb pots. A balcony or patio can take 8 to 15 plants in containers. A garden border or raised bed can take 15 to 30 plants without feeling crowded, depending on the size.
Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, sage, and thyme need a fair bit of sun and good drainage. Mint and parsley are happier in slightly cooler, shadier spots. Knowing your space tells you what's realistic.
Are you buying annuals or perennials?
This matters more than people realise. Some herb plants live for years and only need replacing occasionally. Others die back at the end of the season and need re-buying every spring.
According to the RHS guide on growing herbs, basil, coriander, and dill are typically grown as annuals in the UK, while thyme, rosemary, sage, chives, mint, and oregano are perennials that come back year after year. Basil in particular isn't hardy in the UK, so it needs replacing each spring.
This affects your maths. Perennials are essentially a one-off purchase. Annuals need topping up every season. If you want a long-term, low-maintenance setup, lean perennial. If you want fresh basil for summer pasta, factor in buying a few new plants each year.
3. Herb Quantities for Cooking.
To work out how many herb plants you need, it helps to know how much each plant actually produces, and how much each recipe uses.
Here's what one healthy, established herb plant typically gives you per week during the main growing season:
Basil - enough for 2 to 3 recipes (pesto strips a plant fast)
Parsley -3 to 4 generous handfuls
Mint - 4 to 6 handfuls (mint is famously vigorous)
Chives - snippings for 4 to 5 dishes
Thyme, rosemary, sage - small sprigs for several meals
Coriander - 2 to 3 cuttings before it bolts in warm weather
Now match that against your cooking. A pesto recipe uses roughly 50 to 75g of basil leaves, which is a serious chunk of a single plant. Cooking pasta with herbs once a week through summer? Two basil plants minimum. If you tend to cook the same few herb-heavy dishes (roast lamb with rosemary, mojitos with mint, pesto with basil), put your numbers into the plants doing the heavy lifting. There's no point spreading evenly if 80 per cent of your cooking uses three herbs.
4. Suggested Herb Plant Quantities for Different Setups.
Here are four realistic starter combinations, depending on your situation.
The Solo Cook or Couple: 5 to 7 herb plants
A small but practical herb garden for one or two people who like to cook.
1 basil
1 mint (own pot)
1 thyme
1 rosemary
1 chive
1 to 2 parsley
This covers Mediterranean roasts, pasta dishes, salads, eggs, soups, and herbal teas. It fits comfortably on a sunny windowsill, balcony, or small patio.
The Family Kitchen: 8 to 12 herb plants
For a household of three or four, cooking from scratch regularly.
2 basil
1 to 2 parsley
1 coriander (replace as needed)
1 mint
1 thyme
1 rosemary
1 sage
1 chive
1 oregano
This gives you a full variety, enough volume for daily cooking, and a sensible mix of annuals and perennials. Most of these plants will keep producing all summer with regular harvesting.
The Keen Cook or Entertainer: 12 to 15+ herb plants
For anyone who cooks ambitious meals, hosts often, or wants enough surplus to dry or freeze herbs for winter.
3 basil (essential, you'll get through it)
2 parsley
2 mint (different varieties: Moroccan, peppermint)
1 to 2 chives
1 thyme
1 lemon thyme
1 rosemary
1 sage
1 oregano
1 French tarragon
1 dill
1 coriander
This level of variety also opens up specialist dishes (Asian cooking, North African tagines, classic French sauces) that simply don't work with a small selection. Our Instant Herb Garden Pack (12 herb plants for the price of 11) is built around exactly this kind of comprehensive starter setup, designed for people who want to skip the guesswork and start cooking straight away.
The Windowsill-Only Gardener: 3 to 5 herb plants
If you only have a sunny indoor windowsill, focus on the herbs that genuinely thrive indoors.
1 basil
1 mint
1 parsley
1 chive
Optional: 1 thyme
Rosemary, sage, and oregano prefer outdoor conditions in the long term, so they're worth saving for when you have outdoor space. For more on which herbs work inside, see our guide to the best herb plants for beginners in the UK.
5. How Many of Each Herb Should You Buy? A Plant-by-Plant Guide.
The biggest beginner mistake is buying one of everything in equal quantities. Some herbs need doubling up. Others go a long way from a single plant.
Here's a quick rule of thumb for buying decisions:
Buy more than one: basil, parsley, coriander, dill. These are heavily-used annuals and biennials that get harvested aggressively.
One is enough: thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, French tarragon, chives. Perennials that produce strongly and come back each year.
One per pot, never more: mint. Mint will dominate any shared container or border. Always plant it alone.
Worth duplicating for variety: mint (Moroccan, peppermint, apple), thyme (common, lemon), basil (sweet, Greek, Thai).
For help choosing between two similar herbs, our parsley vs coriander guide talks through which works better for which dishes.
6. Common Mistakes When Working Out Herb Plant Quantities.
A few patterns we see often:
Underestimating basil
One basil plant is almost never enough for a household that cooks Italian food regularly. Two minimum, three if you make pesto.
Forgetting that perennials come back
People over-buy perennials in year one. You don't need three rosemary plants. One mature plant will serve you for years.
Planting mint with other herbs
Mint spreads aggressively underground and will choke out neighbours. Always grow it in its own pot.
Buying herbs you don't actually use
If you've never cooked with tarragon or lovage, start with one and see whether it earns its place before adding more.
Not factoring in the growing season
Annuals like basil and coriander finish in one year, basil in the autumn, coriander after one year. If your maths assumed year-round or year after year supply, you'll be short after one season.
7. How to Grow Your Herb Garden Over Time.
You don't need to buy everything at once. In fact, building up your herb garden gradually is often the smartest approach for beginners. Start with 5 to 7 reliable herbs (the essentials list above). Cook with them for a season. Notice which ones you reach for daily and which sit there untouched. The following spring, double up on the heavy-hitters and add a couple of new varieties you've been curious about.
By year two or three, you'll have a herb garden that genuinely reflects how you cook, rather than a generic selection of plants. That's the real point of growing your own. For longer-term success, also have a read of our guide to growing herbs in containers, which covers pot size, drainage, and feeding throughout the season.
Conclusion
There's no single perfect number for herb plants. For most UK households, 7 to 12 plants is the realistic sweet spot. Solo cooks and couples can manage well with 5 to 7. Keen cooks and entertainers should aim for 12 to 15 or more.
What matters most is choosing herbs you'll actually use, doubling up on the ones you cook with often, and giving perennials the space to come back year after year. Build it gradually, harvest regularly, and you'll have a herb garden that earns its keep in the kitchen.
Ready to Start Your Herb Garden?
If working out how many herb plants you need still feels like a lot to think about, our Bigger Box Instant Herb Garden takes the guesswork out of it completely. You get 12 ready-grown herb plants for the price of 11, hand-picked to cover everyday cooking and grown peat-free in Hampshire.
It's the easiest way to start a properly varied herb garden, with no decisions to make and nothing missing.
Free UK delivery available.
Frequently Asked Questions About Herb Plant Quantities
How many herb plants do I need to start a herb garden?
Most UK beginners do well with 7 to 12 herb plants. A solid starter mix is basil, parsley, mint (in its own pot), thyme, rosemary, sage, and chives. Add coriander, oregano, or tarragon if you cook with them. Adjust upwards if you cook daily or have a family to feed.
How many herb plants will fit on a windowsill?
A standard UK kitchen windowsill comfortably holds 3 to 5 small herb plants in 9cm pots. Choose herbs that genuinely thrive indoors: basil, mint, parsley, and chives. Mediterranean herbs like rosemary tend to do better outdoors in the long term.
Do I need separate herb plants for cooking and herbal tea?
Not always. Mint, lemon balm, chamomile, and thyme work for both cooking and tea. If you drink a lot of herbal tea, consider doubling up on those varieties so you're not stripping your culinary supply.
How often do I need to replace my herb plants?
Perennial herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, chives, mint, and oregano can last for years with proper care. Annuals like basil and coriander finish at the end of the growing season and need to be replaced each spring. Parsley is biennial and is usually replaced after its second year.
Can I just buy one of each herb to start?
You can, but you'll likely run out of the herbs you use most. A better approach is to think about your cooking first, then double up on the herbs you'll harvest heavily (usually basil, parsley, and chives) and buy single plants of perennials like thyme and sage.
