Starting a Medicinal Herb Garden

Herbal medicine has always been with us; in fact, humanity has survived for thousands and thousands of years — even prior to the advent of modern technologies and conventional medicine — because of it.

Today, the art and science of learning to heal with the use of plants is definitely gaining in popularity in large part due to it’s ease of use and affordability.

It’s no wonder that we all are eager to learn about these healing plants!

Many people ask these questions :-

•  are herbal remedies are safe?
• what plants heal what?
• are they really effective?
• how should the plant material be used?

And then you wonder if they can be grown at home.

In days gone by gardens full of vegetables, herbs, and flowers were common place and existed as part of the landscape of the home. Many of these gardens were designed to include a section dedicated to medicinal herbs and healing plants of all kinds.

Tending the garden meant producing one’s own food and medicine — it meant learning the rhythms of the seasons. It was a link between humanity and nature.

Digging up a small area in the garden — or filling a few pots on the patio — and planting medicinal herbs can be revolutionary in helping us to remain connected.

 

Start Simple

When starting a medicinal herb garden for the first time it is wise to keep things simple and manageable.

If you do this, and experience success, you’ll more than likely be inspired and energized to continue!

Design

The design for your garden can include a simple raised bed devoted to medicinal herbs or feel free to add them directly to your landscape. For example, yarrow, echinacea, and Valerian are just beautiful when included in an existing flower bed.

Many medicinal plants make excellent companions to veggies and can be added to the corners of the vegetable garden. Plants such as thyme, basil, and calendula are perfect for this purpose.

Soil

Herbs don’t require super rich soil; however, as any gardener knows, good soil is prized. Remember your soil is what nourishes your plants and the plants your body…so be good to it.

Feel free to amend the soil of your medicinal herb garden with compost and aged manure. Whatever you do, make sure that it’s organic.

Plants

As these plants are for medicinal purposes, they should be acquired from organic sources wherever possible.  This will mean that you are starting with strong, naturally grown plants without any traces of chemicals, which can be a problem with intensively produced plants.

When considering what to grow healing plants in, the following tolerate pot culture and should grow well in a variety of containers:

• basil
• calendula
• cayenne pepper
• ginger
• lavender
• lemon balm
• horehound
• any type of mint
• rosemary
• sage
• St. John’s wort
• thyme

These plants are perfect for raised beds or a herb wheel design:

• all the plants listed above
• chamomile
• garlic
• feverfew
• echinacea
• licorice
• plantain

And these plants get pretty big, so they need a bit more space:

• yarrow
• valerian
• mullein
• burdock
• marshmallow

By starting your own medicinal herb garden this growing season you are taking one more step toward empowering youself to treat symptoms of the common cold, little skin irritations, a few chronic conditions, and minor bumps and bruises. Imagine your friends’ and family’s surprise when you tell them you grew it and made it yourself!