Medicinal Garden

Medicinal Garden: Herbs, Health and Harvesting

When I was younger I was playing on the climbing frame near my house, when the worst thing happened. One of the thrills of our plaything was that at one point it went over a bed of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica). This was a more innocent time when the government didn’t worry about kids getting stung, so no-one had ever thought of cutting back the nettles.

Can you see where this story is going yet?

Yep, you’re right. I was showing off for my brother, when I slipped and landed face first into the nettles. I began crying and my mother rushed over and began rubbing another plant on my face. Although it didn’t stop the pain, it did reduce it enough to get me home without disturbing the whole neighbourhood with my wails. The plant she treated me with was a dock leaf (Of the Rumex-genus).

If I’d known then what I know now I might have paused to take some of the nettles home too! These days I love to drink nettle tisane straight out the tea herb garden and I even grew a taste for yarg (A cheese which is often found wrapped in nettles!) during my childhood trips to Cornwall.

Planning Your Own Medicinal Garden

The first thing that you need to decide is what herbs you want to grow. This will be key. Generally you will either want to choose your herbs based on their medicinal properties or the other properties they have in addition to their medical ones (For example are they aromatic or delicious culinary herbs?). You then have to make your herb garden design based on this.

The Top Ten Medicinal Herbs are:

  1. Garlic. Not only tastes good, but also has been linked to improving circulation, controlling your blood sugar level and helping reduce the risk of heart disease.
  2. Chamomile. This is one of the world’s favorite tisanes. It also has antiseptic properties. A word of warning, many people vomit if they take too much chamomile and worse still it has been linked with uterine problems, so pregnant mothers-to-be should stay clear.
  3. Rosemary. Not only a great medicinal herb (It is linked with controlling free radicals that cause the Alzheimer disease) but also a great culinary garden herb too.
  4. Lemon Balm. The best thing about this herb is that its tea is linked with reducing headaches.
  5. Lavender. This aromatic herb is one of the most commonly used in herbalism. In fact it has such powerful antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, it was used to disinfect hospitals during the first world war!
  6. Ginseng. This is one of the most studied herbs in the world. It is linked with everything from combating cancer to boosting the circulation.
  7. Echinacea. The root of this popular plant has been linked with anti-viral, antiseptic and anti-allergy benefits.
  8. Ginger. Thank heavens for ginger, with its throat soothing properties it has saved me from many a tough day in the classroom. It is also linked with aiding digestion.
  9. St. John’s Wort. This is a great immune stimulant to help with wound healing.
  10. Aloe Vera. Another herb that gets a lot of love in my household, especially when I’ve burnt myself (I.e. Every summer!) as it really soothes burns. Because of this many gardeners like to plant it  when growing herbs in pots indoors to keep it handy in case of burns.

Growing Medicinal Herbs

When you start growing your herbs you need to first consider how much space you have. Lots of gardeners make a little windowsill herb garden, whereas others want huge gardens such as formal English gardens. The choice really is up to you and your garden.

Medicinal herbs, like most herbs, require a good soil with plenty of drainage, a neutral PH and which has been cleared of debris/ fungi. They also generally require a lot of sunlight.

Harvesting your herbs at the correct time becomes more important with medicinal garden herbs, so make sure you know when your herb can and can’t be harvested. Make sure not to over harvest as well, as many of these herbs die if too much is cut off.

To conclude, please remember that your herbs should never be a replacement for the advice of a trained medical professional. However it can be a great way to grown healthy, flavorful herbs with a health benefit. On top of that getting outside and enjoying some gardening will help reduce your stress, so you get benefits all round!