Sprucing Up Around the Chicken Pen with Herb Plants

Oregano

Oregano is a perennial that grows from 1 to 3 feet tall with a 1 to 2 feet spread. Its low-growing, bushy appearance with bright green leaves performs best when it is sheared back often to induce new growth and to prevent it from flowering. 

Sage

Sage is attractive for any herb garden or even mixed with perennials. It grows in Zones 4 to 8 to a height of about 2 feet, though some cultivars are shorter. Like most herbs, it needs full sun.

Tarragon

Tarragon, often called French tarragon, grows in Zones 5 to 8. It grows about 2 to 3 feet tall with dark green, narrow, and slightly twisted leaves that have a licorice or anise flavor.

Wormwood

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) has soft, silvery green, or gray foliage. It grows in Zones 3 to 9. It is bitter and its use is as an ornamental plant for borders, beds, or rock gardens rather than as a culinary herb.

Tansy

Tansy grows 2 to 4 feet tall. The foliage is dark green and fern-like, and it boasts button-shaped yellow flowers. Its Hardiness Zones are 4 to 8. It is used in borders, cottage gardens, or meadow-type planting areas as an ornamental plant instead of a culinary plant. It can be toxic to horses, cows, and humans if eaten in excess. It is considered invasive in some states. 

Rosemary

Rosemary is an herbaceous perennial that is fragrant with a pine-like scent when you crush the leaves or strip them from the woody stems. It can grow tall, as much as 2 to 6 feet with a spread of 2 to 4 feet in areas where it is winter hardy, Zones 7 to 10. It can be an attractive anchor plant to give height and interest on either or both sides of a gate or at the corners of the chicken pen. Rosemary needs full sun. 

Lavender

Lavender is an herbaceous perennial with silvery green foliage. It has a mounded growth habit and, in the summer, sends up spikes of showy, fragrant flowers in purple, lavender, pink, or white blooms, depending on the cultivar. It grows to about 1 ½ feet tall and wide. It grows in Zones 5 to 8. 

Mint

Mint, a perennial that grows 1 to 2 feet tall with a spread of 1 to 2 feet, is a go-getter in the garden. It spreads rapidly so if you wish to control it, grow it in a container. It grows in Zones 5 to 9, and most garden centers have more than one variety, such as peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, or chocolate mint. 

Dill

Dill is an annual that grows tall, around 3 to 5 feet with a spread of 2 to 3 feet. It grows in Zones 2 to 11 and typically blooms in August to September with yellow flowers, though it can bolt (go to seed) much earlier in hot, dry climates. The foliage is aromatic with fringe-like or lacy fronds. This plant isn’t keen on being transplanted so sow seeds directly into the soil after the danger of frost has passed. It is a larval plant for the black swallowtail butterfly so before throwing caterpillars to your flock, consider whether you want pretty butterflies gracing your garden and coop. 

Thyme

Thyme is a low-growing herb that is perfect to tuck in and around other herbs or to mix with lettuces or annuals in containers. It has small delicate leaves on woody stems that will spill over the edges of containers or over stone or brick walks.