Any avid coffee drinker knows that you can never have too many coffee mugs. Even if you aren’t a coffee lover, mugs are fun to collect and can be used in many different ways, including planting your very own herb garden.

Whether you have a green thumb or not, making a coffee mug herb garden is easy, fun, and makes for unique additions to your home that are sure to grab the attention of all of your guests. They even make great gifts for the plant lovers in your life.

Read on to learn how to DIY a mug herb garden and check out our herb garden ideas to find inspiration for your next project.

How To Create a Mug Herb Garden

Before you buy yourself a bunch of herbs, you’ll want to make sure you are properly equipped with the right materials. Here are the basic components you’ll need as well as steps to create your coffee mug herb garden.

Cancer Zodiac Flowers – AQUA Mug designed and sold by VenusandMoon

Materials Needed

• Your choice of baby herbs or seeds
• Coffee mugs 
• Small river rocks
• Potting soil
• Proper sunlight

Step 1: Pick a Location

The first thing you want to do is pick the right location for your herbs. One of the many benefits of using mugs for your herb garden is that they are super portable, so you can place them just about anywhere you’d like. However, you must pick a place that receives the proper amount of sunlight. This includes a sunny windowsill, sun porch, or another area in your home that generally gets plenty of sunshine.

Libra Flowers – PINK Mug designed and sold by VenusandMoon
Paws and Enjoy Life Mug designed and sold by doodella
Cute Lil’ Mushroom! Mug designed and sold by creativert-art

Step 2: Pick Your Herbs

Next, it’s time to pick your herbs.  Some of the most popular herbs include:

• Mint
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Basil
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Chives

Since you’ll be planting herbs in mugs, it’s important to understand which mug to choose depending on your herb. Taller plants such as basil need deeper coffee cups while bushy herbs like parsley or cilantro thrive in wider mugs.

Step 3: Prepare Your Mugs

Before you start planting, prepare your mugs so that your chosen herbs will be able to thrive in your chosen coffee cups. Add river rocks to the bottom of each coffee cup to help with drainage so any excess water won’t be sitting on the herb’s roots. This is necessary for a healthy plant. 

Litha Pattern – Cream Mug designed and sold by Katherine Lee

Step 4: Plant Your Herbs

Once you’ve chosen your herbs and prepared your mugs, it’s time to plant them. If you plan on using baby herbs, remove them from their containers and tease the roots slightly. Then you’ll want to place your herbs in their new mug home. The soil should fill the mug about ½ an inch from the top of the mug.

If you are using seeds, fill your mug with river rocks with soil halfway. Then you’ll place your seeds and fill the rest of the mug up with soil until it’s about ½ an inch from the top. 

After your baby herbs or seeds are planted, add water to each mug and place them in your chosen sunny location.

Cute Lil’ Frog Mug designed and sold by creativert-art
Leo Flowers – GOLD Mug designed and sold by VenusandMoon
Pawsitive Cat designed and sold by nikury

Fun Ways to Display Your Mug Herb Garden

Now that you have your herbs planted, you have a unique and charming new addition to your home. If you need some inspiration on how to display them, check out some of these cute mug herb garden ideas for your next DIY project! Everyone loves a good plant pun, so don’t forget to download these punny herb garden printable labels so you can keep track of your herbs whether they be in your kitchen, living room, or sun porch.

Cottagecore Garden

Nothing screams “cottagecore” like planting your own herb garden. Cottagecore is an aesthetic that represents the English countryside that is both romantic and nostalgic. Plant your herbs in mugs that incorporate elements of nature and simplicity while simultaneously mixing their shapes and sizes to capture the ultimate cottagecore look.

Featured Mugs:

Featured Artwork:

• Vertical Garden (White) designed and sold by Desirée Feldmann
• Sunshine Stalkers (mushrooms) designed and sold by Vlad Stankovic

Pet Plants

Some pets are more than just companions, they are our best friends. You can never have enough stuff that represents your furry friends, so liven up your space with mug planters that embody your pets. If you don’t have pets of your own, you can still choose animal mugs that display your dream pet or favorite animal.

Featured Mugs:

Horoscope Herbs

If you’re like every other millennial, you’re most likely familiar with astrology and the zodiac signs — and by familiar, we mean obsessed! Show off your astrology chart by planting your herbs into mugs that represent your zodiac signs. You can keep it small by just including your big three, which are your sun, moon, and ascendant signs, or display your whole chart with all 11 placements.

Featured Mugs:

Not only do mugs serve as convenient planters for small plants like herbs, but they offer a way to express yourself as there are so many different designs and aesthetics to choose from. Check out our huge selection on Redbubble to find the perfect mugs to spark inspiration for herb garden ideas for your next DIY project.