Creating a Herb Spiral from Reclaimed Bricks

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3 Aug 2026

Creating a Herb Spiral from Reclaimed Bricks

Why a Herb Spiral Deserves a Place in Your Garden

A herb spiral is one of those rare garden features that works hard and looks lovely doing it. In a footprint of around 1.8 metres across, you create a miniature hillside: a coiled mound of soil that rises roughly 60 to 70 centimetres at its peak, with a spiral path winding down to a small pool at the base. The genius of the design is that it creates several different growing conditions in one compact space. The top of the mound is free-draining, sun-baked and perfect for Mediterranean herbs. The middle is more forgiving. The bottom stays damper, which suits the thirstier leaf crops. Because it is raised, it warms up early in spring and drains freely in wet winters, and because it is circular, it fits neatly into a corner of a patio or the edge of a kitchen garden.

Sourcing and Preparing Reclaimed Bricks

Old bricks are ideal. They are usually softer, more porous and far more characterful than new ones, and a mixed batch of reds, buffs and weathered greys gives the finished spiral a mellow, settled look from day one. You will need roughly 200 to 250 bricks for a spiral of this size, depending on how you lay them.

Give your bricks a quick MOT before building:

Reject the crumbly ones. If a brick flakes apart in your hand or has deep, spalling faces, it will not survive many frosts. Use those as rubble in the core instead.
Knock off old mortar. A bolster chisel and a club hammer will shift most of it. Lime mortar comes away easily; hard cement takes more persuasion. Do not worry about getting them perfectly clean.
Avoid contaminated bricks. Skip anything with heavy paint, tar or creosote on it, as this can leach into your soil.
Sort by size. Keep the most regular bricks for the outer face of the spiral and the rougher ones for the inner courses.

Choosing the Spot and Marking It Out

Pick a spot that gets at least six hours of sun a day, ideally within easy reach of the kitchen door so you actually use what you grow. Level ground is best; if the site slopes, cut into it slightly rather than building up, or the spiral will slump.

Mark out a circle 1.8 metres in diameter. Push a cane into the centre, loop a length of string around it, and cut the string to 90 centimetres. Walk the string round, scratching the circle into the turf or soil with a stick. Now mark your spiral path: a gap roughly 30 centimetres wide that starts at the outside edge and coils inward, closing off just below the summit so you can still reach the top planting pockets. Strip the turf inside the circle and fork over the subsoil to break up any pan.

Building the Spiral, Course by Course

Start at the base of the spiral and build upward in courses, laying bricks flat and overlapping them like a very short, thick wall. Dry-laying is perfectly adequate and makes the structure easy to adjust; if you prefer mortar, a soft lime mix of one part cement, one part lime and six parts sand will hold everything firm while staying flexible.

Fill the hollow centre with rubble, broken bricks and coarse gravel as you go — this gives drainage and saves soil. Add a layer of inverted turf or rough garden compost over the rubble, then top with a good planting mix: roughly two parts topsoil, one part well-rotted compost and a handful of grit per barrow for the upper sections. Each course should step back slightly toward the centre, so the finished mound has a gentle slope rather than vertical sides. As the spiral rises, keep the outer face tidy and the inner pockets generous. Finish the summit with a flat capstone or a single brick laid on its side, which makes a handy resting place for a pair of secateurs.

Planting the Levels

Treat the spiral as three zones and plant accordingly.

The summit and upper slopes: rosemary, thyme, winter savory, oregano and sage. These want sharp drainage and full sun, and they hate wet feet.
The middle band: parsley, chives, basil in summer, dill and marjoram. This is the most versatile ground, so use it for anything you cook with weekly.
The lower slopes and pool: mint, lemon balm, chervil, coriander and flat-leaf parsley. Sink mint into a pot with the rim just above soil level, or it will romp through the whole spiral within a season.

Keeping It Looking Good Through the Year

Water at the top of the spiral and let gravity do the work — the moisture percolates down through the mound, so the bottom herbs get watered without you lifting a can twice. In the first summer, check the upper slopes daily in hot spells, as raised soil dries quickly.

Each spring, top-dress with two or three centimetres of compost and refresh the grit mulch on the summit, which keeps the foliage clean and slugs at bay. Cut back woody herbs after flowering to stop them going leggy, and divide clumps of chives and mint every couple of years. After a hard winter, walk round and press any lifted bricks back into place; frost heave is the only real maintenance a dry-laid spiral asks of you. Come June, you will have a structure that feeds you, shelters bees, and looks like it has stood there for decades.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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