Herb Gardening

Lesson 2: Lesson Two - Raised Beds, Invasive Herbs & Weeds

Are they really weeds?

Are they really weeds?

If you are new to herb gardening you will soon learn that some plants you have always thought of as being a nuisance are among the most valuable medicinal herbs.

For instance, the lowly dandelion. How many times have you dug them out of your lawn (I hope you don’t now) or have ever used a chemical weed killer, and found the next morning they had returned in full force. It probably made you angry. I doubt that you realized that dandelion could cure warts, help you get over a cold, aid with such conditions as PMS, weight loss, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, cancer, yeast infections and digestive problems. I would venture a bet you will never look at that weed again with disgust.

Mullein is another unsightly plant which the average gardener doesn’t want near his or her lawn. Yet mullein has been proven effective against respiratory diseases, coughs, sore throats, hemorrhoids and diarrhea. The purple cone flower, or Echinacea, which grows with sweet abandon in highway ditches in many of the United States, has finally come into its own as a highly prized natural antibiotic and immune system stimulant.

So, the next time you set out to destroy a ‘weed’ give it the once over and decide if it really is an undesirable. You may want to not end its life but to move it to a space in your herb garden.

Herb Garden Design

In the Rodale Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs there is a section on landscaping. They mention several methods of incorporating herbs into your existing landscape. They also suggest ideas for period gardens, theme gardens, and a knot garden. If you have decided on growing specific herbs for specific purposes they give you examples of plants to be placed in a medicinal garden, a dye garden, a fragrance garden, a kitchen garden and others. We haven’t enough time, in this course, to go through each of these designs. I only mention them here so that you are aware of the wide range of versatility to be found in herb gardening. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to creating a green, magic world that is not only useful and fragrant, but also inspiring and beautiful.

  1  2  3