Imagine stepping out on to your patio to pick fresh herbs for your cooking - from fragrant basil to accompany ripe tomatoes and mozzarella, coriander to sprinkle on spicy curries and salads, mint to add to your Pimm's or rosemary to sprinkle over flame-licked lamb chops on the barbecue. Sounds idyllic doesn't it?

Fresh herbs are such a staple in today's kitchens, but all too frequently the shop-bought ones end up wilting on the windowsill before you've even had a chance to use them.

If you’re planning a herb garden or a group of herbs in pots, place them near to the kitchen where they are easily accessible. A small collection can be planted in a cartwheel pattern, or even in a planter with separate pockets, each segment planted with a different herb.

On a larger scale, a flowerbed can be divided into segments, each one for a different herb, fringed with a dwarf hedge such as lavender to provide definition to the edges.

Formal herb gardens are traditionally round or square, often with a clipped low-growing hedge around the outside and something bigger, such as a bay in a large pot or even a sundial or birdbath, in the middle. There is normally a healthy mixture of herbs filling the remaining space, giving fresh options year round.

Informal herb gardens are much easier to tend to as it is possible to mix the herbs to include both perennials and annuals. Plants such as lavender and foxgloves can also be added to give the area a bit more colour.

When you are planting a border of herbs, place the tallest at the back so they don't shade out the smaller varieties. Angelica grows up to 2m (6ft) and will freely self-seed. Varieties such as mint and lemon balm are invasive, and so should be planted in pots or buckets in the ground so their roots are confined and don't swamp other less vigorous plants.

Groups of symmetrically arranged raised flowerbeds provide an easy and attractive way to cultivate a wide range of herbs without having to tread on the soil, plus you can cater for the soil and watering needs of the different types of herb on a much more personal basis.

You can just as easily grow pots of herbs on your patio or in a windowbox in the right situation, and with the right soil.

Most herbs used for cooking and for their fragrance are natives of the Mediterranean and do best in warm sunny conditions in a well-drained soil, with added grit. Those in containers may need daily watering in hotter weather but some, such as basil, will resent going to bed at night with wet leaves or sodden compost. To keep them happy it is much more effective to water them in the morning before they are exposed to any direct sunlight.

Many herbs don't like rich, moisture-retentive growing conditions, so you'll need to pay attention to what individual varieties require. Coriander doesn't like being crowded and will not thrive in cooler conditions, parsley is greedy and requires a rich, moisture-retentive soil, while thyme prefers poor, very well-drained soil.

Basil is a fan of warmth and prefers a sheltered growing environment, but it doesn’t do well in searing sun, so grow it in pots of soilless potting compost in an area of semi shade.

Remove the flowers from short-lived leafy herbs such as chervil and basil to keep them growing for longer. Do the same for coriander and dill if you don't want seeds but would prefer to have more leaves.

Before too much time has passed, you should have the option of picking aromatic, flavoursome herbs from your own garden rather than reverting to the wilting leaves of the shop-bought ones which inhabit your windowsill. You will find it is worth the earlier effort for a constant supply of fresh herbs to accompany and enhance tasty, home-cooked food.