Make a Stacked Garden to Grow Fresh Herbs at Home!

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close up of planter with fresh mint leaves and sign

Want to plant an herb garden this year?

This stacked herb garden I grew a few years ago is still one of my favorite home DIY projects ever and will be a beautiful addition to your outdoor patio space too. It’s also a convenient and frugal way to incorporate homegrown fresh herbs into cooking at home, instead of buying them each week from the grocery store!

I’m a big fan of container gardening in general because you don’t need a ton of space, and can easily move them around if more or less sun is needed.

tiered planter with various types of fresh herbs growing inside

This stacked garden idea is so creative and FUN!

Of course, you can simply plant herb gardens in a single pot, but there’s something so eye-catching and unique with this stacked pot look. The basic idea is to find 3 different sized pots to use as a tower and then to use two small-sized pots (empty paint cans work too!) upside down for height and to stabilize the planter.

white stock photo of planter drawing
image from MarthaStewart.com


Tips to make your own stacked herb garden:

  • You can use mismatched plant pots lying around the house, or purchase new ones to achieve this look. I didn’t have to buy any new ones, and some were plastic and some terra cotta.
  • If desired, paint the pots all the same color to make them more uniform, however, it’s an optional step.
  • You can make this same tiered planter and use flowers instead. It doesn’t need to have herbs. For instance, I kept mine going with herbs for a while and then switched to flowers the next year.
  • For best results, try to place your herbs in a spot outside where they’ll receive some sun each day. Make sure to water every day or other day when the top inch of soil feels dry. This could vary by location: for instance, in AZ I  have to water my containers once or even twice a day sometimes in extreme heat.

collage of photos showing how to put together and make a stacked planter


DIY Stacked Herb Garden

Print

Directions

1

Paint the pots (if doing this optional step) and let dry.

2

Start with the largest planter pot at the bottom and place an upside-down small pot on the inside.

3

Add potting soil and plant the first tier of herbs around the outside of the pot. Repeat for the second and third-tier. When done, you’ll have three tiers of herbs.

4

On black plant markers (or paint white markers with black paint and let dry) and use a permanent white paint pen to write the names of herbs. Enjoy your fresh herb garden!


stacked herb garden with various signs

Look at how beautiful it looks when you’re all done! 😍

My fresh herbs lasted for almost the entire summer with normal watering – the basil and mint definitely lasted the longest. After that, I chose to fill my pots with $10 worth of annual flowers and I think they turned out great too!

vibrant flowers in tiered planter


Check out this succulent wall I built for our patio!


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 7

  1. dealzgurl

    Love this idea! Thanks for posting!

    • Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick)

      Sure! Have fun if you make one!

  2. Toni

    I made one of these a few yeas ago for my mom for mother’s day! She loves to cook with herbs. It turned out beautiful. Love that you can “customize” it!

  3. Ren

    I thought this was my brilliant idea! Like you suggested, I used leftover pots that I had but I also bought some terracotta pots. It was fun figuring out the best way to stack them for maximum space and balance. Unlike you, I didn’t use a pot inside the larger pot, I stacked it atop the soil in the lower larger pot. I like your idea better though because you save soil and have more stability. You can stack another pot atop the one in the pot to gain more height and more space around it to plant stuff if it is flared like the typical terracotta pot. I also used strawberry jars and planted succulents in the openings. Email me to trade ideas and pictures!

    • Jessica (Hip Sidekick)

      So glad to hear this post was helpful and inspiring for you to create your own, Ren! 🤗🪴 Hoping your loving your stacked garden! ❤️

  4. Ren

    Hi Jessica. Actually, I had already made one, thought it was my idea so did a search to see if anyone else had and found yours and Lina’s. We each built them slightly differently but the concept is the same. Let me know if you’d like to see a picture and how I could send it to you. Cheers!

    • Jessica (Hip Sidekick)

      That’s so awesome, Ren! 💕 Thanks for the update! We have a “Happy Friday” post each week where this might be a good fit! Here’s the link to the post with the details on that and how to submit your info and photos to us! 🥰

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