Grow fresh ingredients for pizza night right on your patio or deck in a pizza herb garden. This easy container garden will elevate the way you top your pizza. Plant classic herbs or a unique variety like garlic chives, lemon basil, and arugula.
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It's about that time of year when we start trading our indoor pizza nights for outdoor pizza nights. We fire up the charcoal grill and create the most delicious personal grilled pizzas made on homemade dough. The toppings usually come straight from the garden - herbs, onions, peppers, and other veggies - totally customizable and a fun Friday night summer tradition. While we have a full vegetable garden planted, plus a separate herb garden, I wanted to put together a pizza topping container garden.
My idea for this garden was to grow unique and flavorful additions to the large variety of edible plants growing in our backyard. I have some pizza-worthy herbs growing in our herb garden already like oregano, basil, and pizza thyme. But I wanted to grow a few more unique herbs that would make excellent pizza toppings. So I planted arugula, garlic chives, and lemon basil.
Arugula adds some freshness and peppery bite to pizza and pairs well with other pizza toppings like prosciutto and hot honey. Garlic chives grow just like regular chives. But instead, they have a slight garlicky flavor to them, which is perfect for topping pizza. The lemon basil adds amazing zest and brightness. The balance of citrusy, earthy flavors makes it a surprising, but pleasant choice as a pizza topping.
What to Grow in a Pizza Container Garden
If you want to create your own pizza container garden, you can go classic with flavor essentials like basil and oregano or grow something unique like the herbs mentioned above. Here are some plant ideas to help you create your own pizza herb container garden.
- Sweet basil
- Purple basil
- Lemon basil
- Greek oregano
- Pizza thyme
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Arugula
- Chives
- Garlic chives
If you want to add some vegetables to your container garden, choose smaller varieties like patio tomatoes and eggplant, jalapeños, or sweet snacking peppers.
How to Create a Pizza Herb Container Garden
Just like the other container gardens I've made for our deck, I chose to grow my pizza garden in a barrel planter. The plants I chose to grow should fill in nicely throughout the season. Picking them for pizza nights will also encourage the plants to grow so we should have a continuous supply of pizza toppings.
To start my container garden, I filled it with standard potting soil and mixed in earthworm castings and all-purpose fertilizer.
Then, I started planting the herbs in the pot. I planted the garlic chives first.
Next, I planted the arugula.
Then, I planted the lemon basil.
Once my herbs were planted, I watered the planter thoroughly. I had a blank slate garden marker and decided to paint the word "pizza" in Italian flag colors as a final touch.
SUPPLIES
- 12-18" container
- Potting soil
- Optional: all-purpose fertilizer
- Optional: earthworm castings
- Herbs, like basil, arugula, and chives
- Optional: pizza garden stake
STEPS
- Make sure your planter has drainage holes. If not, drill some into the bottom. Then, fill with potting soil.
- If desired, mix all-purpose fertilizer and earthworm castings into the soil.
- Next, plant the herbs in the planter and water thoroughly.
- Add a "pizza" garden stake into the planter and place it in a sunny spot.
Not only does this pizza herb garden ensure that you have fresh toppings for your pizza all season long (you can even dry them at the end of the season), it would also make a great Father's Day gift for the dad who gardens or whose favorite food is pizza.
Did you make this Pizza Herb Container Garden project? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
