Hello Holly,

I am no expert, a novice actually, but I might be able to help a tiny bit. I am just starting to plant my very first herb garden. I am SOOOOO excited!

I know the mint can be invasive so I planted mine in a separate container. As for the plants you have but cannot identify, try to look for pictures online so you can identify them. Also you will probably need to know which of your herbs are perennial and which are annual when you choose the layout of your garden. I've a rectangular garden and opted to plant my perennials in the back and my annuals in between or in front. The only exception I can think to this is parsley which is a biennial (grows 2 years, but less productive the 2nd year).

I'll try to post a photo of my baby garden : ) I'm sure others here will have better advice than I can offer.

Best of Luck!

As your plants grow, use you nose and taste-buds to help ID them. Also, research what they'll look like when mature - Google Images has a lot of herb pix, and the sites they come from have information on their mature size etc.

Taller plants at the back, the rest will look good no matter how you arrange them. I rather like a herb garden to look higgledy-piggledy and untamed, which is probably just as well, because it's my experience that herbs will do best where THEY want to be, not where YOU want them.

Sage can become a fair-sized shrub, so put it towards the back. It won't get as big as the rosemary, however. I have found it to be rather temperamental.

A healthy basil can get quite large, too. I've had them grow to 1.5 metres or so tall, and about the same in width. It's hard to give a mature basil plant a hug, unless you have arms like a spider-monkey!

Thyme can spread by layering, but is quite well-behaved - grows to about 20cm tall, but I've seen it taller. It's a short-lived perennial, and in a couple of years the 'mother' will die off, hopefully have layered several babies which can be separated from their mother and replanted. Keep an eye on the oregano if it shows a tendency to take over. Makes a nice ground-cover, though it can get to about 60cm tall.

Parsley is a biennial, so it will go to see in its second year. This is not altogether a bad thing, as if you let the seeds fall, you'll get more plants the following year (or so). The seeds will not usually land where you want them! Remember, parsley doesn't like being transplanted (it has a long tap-root), which is why I said that herbs will grow where THEY want to!

In short - don't try for a manicured herb garden. In the long-term, those plants will will decide for themselves what they're going to do. By all means, start out with neatness in mind, but I assure you it won't end up that way - which I reckon is a good thing, by and large.

You might think about adding dill and tarragon. Also, you could add tea herbs like lemon balm. Here is how I organize my herbs in my garden in zone 5b/6a:
dill, cilantro, basil are grouped together and I grow them from seed every year. Cilantro and dill should be planted earlier than basil.
Rosemary, parsley, chives, thyme I have in individual pots only so I can bring them in when fall arrives. Parsley I do usually have to buy a fresh plant ever spring. Rosemary is not cold hardy in my area so it must come in, but chives and thyme would be Ok outside. BTW, I used to plant all of these in the ground and just dig them up to bring in when fall came. I also grow lemongrass and curry in individual pots, but they should do fine in the ground as well. I freeze the lemongrass "roots" in fall. The curry I just love the smell, I've never used it for culinary purposes. Then, I have oregano, tarragon, sage, garlic chives in a stone planter. These are perennial and return every year. That sage is a monster. It's hard to keep it trimmed back. I also have a tea bed with mints in containers in the ground. They escaped and are hard to control. If I had it to do over, I would have put them in containers above ground. Also in my tea bed, in the ground, are lemon thyme, lemon balm (also invasive), alpine strawberries, chamomile, and hyssop. I agree with the above posters that you are best off letting it go wild. I adore the look of a well-manicured knot garden, but there is no way I would take on that much work!! I hope you enjoy your herb garden. I love growing herbs! :)

Forgot to mention, I think you should separate the cilantro and flat-leaved parsley. I think they can be a little difficult to differentiate.

Keep any biennials and annuals in a location separate from the perennials in your garden. Don't intermix them. You want to replant the short-lived often. These include parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, fennel.

Sage, thyme, rosemary, and lavender all like well-drained and lean soil. You don't need (or want) fertilizers or compost rich soil for these guys.

Add a hot pepper plant or two. Nice looks and great kitchen flavors!

Chives are a nice perennial that does well in most locations. It is not needy and has wonderful spring blooms - edible too.

Sorrel, horseradish, lovage, anise, garlic, and garlic chives are also other possible kitchen herbs.

FataMorgana

Bronze fennel is very attractive. It is perennial and lasts several years for me. It will also self sow. I wouldn't put horseradish in my herb garden unless it was in a submerged container like mint. You could probably grow a bay tree in your zone if the VanIsle means Vancouver. It can be kept clipped into a topiary shape as a centre piece or allowed to grow more naturally. But it would still need pruning if you don't want a thirty foot tree.