Medicinal garden at the cottage: what and how to plant according to the tips of the “green bed”
For centuries, many herbalists have been excellent botanical gardeners, and today the fashion for medicinal vegetable gardens is returning. After all, planting beds or flowerbeds with medicinal plants is a great way to get useful raw materials and expand your botanical outlook for health
The experts of the Tatarstan club “Green Crown” have prepared a number of tips to help create an apothecary vegetable garden in nature.
If you are not a professional botanist, always start simple. Depending on the time available, you can create a separate raised bed dedicated to medicinal herbs or add it right into the landscape. For example, yarrow, echinacea, and valerian will easily grow and beautify an existing bed. And calendula medicinalis (marigolds) or marigolds will be favorable neighbors for vegetable plants.
Preparing the soil for the Apothecary Garden
The soil for the apothecary vegetable garden must be prepared very carefully.
When digging, you need to select all the weeds and literally rub the soil with your hands, so that the weeds do not interfere with the growth of medicinal plants.
Digging should be done twice. First, in large layers remove all the grass together with the roots, as well as all the rhizomes that you find in the soil. The second time you dig the future beds after a week. Then other weeds will sprout. You can comb them out with a rake before digging.
In the second recultivation add organic fertilizer. It is very important not to apply any chemicals, including mineral fertilizers.
On the site of the Apothecary vegetable garden (per 1 square meter) loosen: 2 buckets of decomposted manure or compost, 2 buckets of leaf soil, a bucket of sand, a bucket of wood ash.
If during the first digging your soil turned out to be heavy, clayey and sour, neutralize the soil with dolomite flour or ground chalk (2 kg per 5 sq. m.).
After the second re-cultivation, form the beds. Make them 10 cm higher than the vegetables as some medicinal herbs have roots (eg.
Choosing the right plants and soil
When compiling a flower bed or beds, always consider the characteristics of the crops and their size.
If you decide to create an elongated medicinal garden with herbaceous and perennial plants, plant taller perennials in its middle part. Then move from the center to the edge and plant the deeper ones.
Annuals serve best as a border.
If you want to create a tiered bed or a mixed border of perennial medicinal and transmission grasses, as well as shrubs with medicinal berries, start with the latter.
Plant hawthorn, viburnum, chokeberry, red mountain ash, and linden in the background. In front of them plant red, black and white currants, currant tea, red and yellow raspberries, honeysuckle, rose hips, barberry.
In front of the shrubs are placed: loftan tibetan, dusky, amaranth, wormwood, St. John’s wort, lavender, cornflowers, chamomile, tansy, lobelia.
And plant all the spicy and warming herbs in the foreground. It will be a beautiful pharmaceutical garden!
When planting, consider the needs of each crop. Plant moisture-loving, drought-tolerant plants along with drought-tolerant ones.
Try to make sure your apothecary vegetable garden is combined with aesthetic beauty. To do this, give more flowers, plants with colorful leaves with unusual shapes, etc.
When creating an apothecary vegetable garden, remember that many medicinal plants are grown as seedlings! The disadvantage of herbs from seeds is low germination. It often happens that you have to wait 2-3 weeks for the sprouts to make their way under the floor.
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Here’s how to equip an apothecary vegetable garden in the village
Today, many people use medicinal herbs, and interest in herbal medicine is constantly growing. Unfortunately, there are not many ways to collect healing raw materials. It is not surprising that dacha owners are increasingly trying to breed the necessary plants on their plot: it is both beautiful and useful.
Today many people use medicinal herbs, and interest in herbal medicine is growing
The tradition of creating medicinal vegetable gardens has an old history, but this time we will not go into it, but talk about purely practical issues: How to provide beds with medicinal plants and herbs in the countryside; Where to place them best, what they rely on and how to take care of it all.
For those who want to broaden their horizons and learn more about how traditions were formed. I recommend reading the fascinating articles travel into the history of the ornamental garden and ornamental garden – like our ancestors, in which you will find a lot of interesting information.
A place for an ornamental garden in the countryside
This hobby usually starts with one or two small beds or beds. It is best to set aside a separate place for you, if possible, in the kitchen – it is no coincidence that the ornamental garden is also called a kitchen garden or aromatic nursery. It is practical if everything you need will be on hand at a moment’s notice, and two or three branches of weeds will bypass the whole place.
It is better to allocate a separate area for medicinal herbs.
The place for planting is better prepared in winter. It should be dug up and select the roots of weeds. You can immediately make beds. Especially carefully prepare the soil for perennial plants. Later, you can save energy to avoid strenuous struggle with weeds.
In the winter there is time to choose seeds to decide which seedlings you want to buy, and outline a planting plan. Carefully study the properties of the selected plants, planting agronomy and planting plans.
In our catalog you will find seeds of popular medicinal systems that combine the offers of large online stores of planting material. Choose the seeds of medicinal herbs.
What conditions are required for medicinal seedbeds
Most spicy herbs prefer sunlight, but some grow well in partial shade, such as melissa, various mints, parsley, catnip, monarda, and lovage. If you want to plant wild herb complexes – such as St. John’s wort, yarrow, chamomile apothecary, and others – on the property, you’ll create an environment that’s almost natural. The articles will tell you more about some of these herbs:
Wild medicinal plants are better to create conditions close to natural
If the soil on the plot is dense, it should be loosened, add sand and form raised beds. Herbs, whose rhizomes have useful properties, such as valerian, have a particularly good effect on the mechanical composition of the soil.
Choose a planting location depending on the habitat of the plant
Be sure to consider the needs of the plants you choose to plant. Choose a location based on their normal habitat and care needs. For example, drought-tolerant plants should not be planted next to moisture-draining plants.
Be sure to consider the origin of the plants. For example, Mediterranean herbs – rosemary, lavender and others – that are popular among gardeners and gardeners are very demanding to the heat. Often they are unable to survive harsh winters and freeze even with a good cover. It is better to grow such plants in containers, and put them away for the winter in a cool but frost-free room. Our readers share their experiences in the comments of the post How to preserve lavender and rosemary in winter?
How to arrange an apothecary garden
The design of an aromatic nursery depends on the area and emphasizes your imagination. If space is scarce, break up the ornamental flower bed by dividing it into sectors. In the center, plant tall herbs – for example, lovage, wormwood, elecampane. The other selected plants are placed in sectors, selecting a harmonious combination. Perhaps this will help you with ideas and plans from the issue of 5 healing flowerbeds for the country house.
Pharmaceutical garden in a classic style
If you have decided on a place for the apothecary vegetable garden, and your beds (or flower beds) are planned as stationary, do not forget to choose a decent frame for them: a successful board will decorate them, too. Practical ideas and tips on how to implement them can be found in the article Garden: Ideas for designing beds and beds.
Be sure to use flowering plants in the plantings – monarda, calendula, valerian, yarrow and others. The basis of a pharmaceutical garden is usually perennials. You can plant sage, thyme, melissa, oregano, snakehead, St. John’s wort.
On the terrace is convenient to place a vegetable garden with spicy herbs in containers
On the terrace you can create a kitchen nursery in containers. About the options for its design tells about the selection of ideas for container gardens and vegetable gardens in a small area. In pots it is convenient to grow heat-loving species of medicinal and spicy herbs, which in winter will freeze in the open ground – with the onset of cold weather, they are transferred from the street to a cool room.
Plants for the apothecary vegetable garden
There are almost no strict recommendations in this matter, because the plants are selected taking into account their own preferences, as well as the combination of cultures and their useful properties.
Everyone chooses the plants for the apothecary garden to his own taste, but there are general rules
Those who are interested in phytotherapy, creating their own apothecary vegetable garden, always have on hand high-quality medicinal raw materials for herbal gatherings. Lovers of spices or fans of herbal teas will surely prefer fragrant plants. But some things to consider regardless of your taste:
- Humble
- Ornamental
The Apothecary Orchard traditionally combines beauty with utility
- The duration of the growing season
- Specifics of harvesting raw materials
It’s worth thinking about in advance
The care of the Apothecary vegetable garden
In general, it does not differ from the traditional and usual care of flower gardens or seedbeds. Slaving and loosening the soil, watering and feeding, removal of the lores blossoms (if the plant is not grown to support seeds) – all methods and techniques, most likely, you already know.
The care of an apothecary vegetable garden is generally the same as that of a conventional one.
Don’t forget that many medicinal herbs are propagated using the seedling method. Their seeds (like the seeds of vegetables or flowers) are sown in early spring. Perennial plants are often propagated vegetatively: by parts, cuttings, foliage and so on.
Do you have healing seedbeds at your dacha? What grows on them? How have you equipped them? Share your experiences!
A medicinal vegetable garden is my secret dream). I won’t say unrealized, managed to plant a few beneficial roosters on my plot this year, but… I lacked my ability to organize an apothecary vegetable garden for the reason that medicinal plants are not particularly beautiful. Apparently, I tried to hide my new inhabitants somewhere in the bowels of the flower garden. Apparently, in vain. Thank you Marisha for the useful article, now I know how to make everything beautiful and I know what else I can do. ) I liked the idea of the photo with the fountain in the middle – cool, and also photos of useful roosters in pots, I would not have believed that they would look so spectacular. It’s not for nothing that they say: “A century of living, a century of learning”!
Tanyush, I sometimes have it easier – I am a “fan” of wild Russian, so I had no doubt that medicinal herbs are beautiful, and in the end last year I got a mixboard in front of the house. But this is a temporary option – in fact, I just “collect in a pile” what I have always wanted to have and what I like – from monarda to plantain and this spring I would like to turn all this “wealth” in the Preobrazhensky “wealth” into a real apothecary vegetable garden))))
Can you please tell me how to dilute the lushly growing St. John’s wort in the country garden? I have had a bush growing and dug in the wild for several years, but for some reason transplanted St. John’s wort this year did not take off.
Sergey, we allocated your question a separate topic of the surgeon-so it will see a lot more people! What can dilute the lushly growing St. John’s wort in the country garden? We will wait for answers))))
Can you advise me how to determine whether chamomile is medicinal or a weed? (I think chamomile has started, but I do not know whether it is a good plant)))))
Alexander, I will give you a description from the encyclopedia-extension of medicinal plants, and compare it with what you have grown)) “Chamomile apothecary is an annual system with a strongly branched trunk and leaves based on the thyrus, which is all covered with covering stems. The flower baskets of chamomile apothecary sit on long, thin spikes and consist of yellow tubular flowers in the middle of the basket and white marginal flowers. The baskets of Chamomilla apothecary are hollow inside – this is the main difference from similar species. Similar species, such as chamomile fragrant (M.Discoidea dc.) and chamomile unused in medicinal practice (M.inodora L.), but tO for external use.. Chamomile fragrant is a short plant with cirrhotic leaves and yellow-green baskets without lingual flowers. The color of the chamomile fragrant is on its head, also hollow. This type of plant is very fragrant, so it is spread between clothing and laundry to repel insects. Chamomile non-scented (M.Inodora L.) is similar to the medicinal chamomile, it has a bare striated stem with twice, thrice branched leaves and white, yellow-colored “chamomile” flowers. But the tongues of the white petals are much longer, 10-15 mm, while the colored ones are blunt, not hollow. In addition, the growth of this species is usually higher – 60-70 cm. The plant smells quite strong, despite the name of the species” (Source: Ilyina T.A. Large illustrated encyclopedia of medicinal plants.-m. Eksmo, 2013). And here we published a short post about the apothecary chamomile, there is a photo)))
When you crush the apothecary chamomile and inhale the aroma, the olfactory memory is the most entrance criterion.
Marina, thank you for the article. I didn’t realize there was so much chamomile when it grows, I look closely (strong smell, I remember as if not). I think it’s generally not a dangerous weed.
Yes, chamomile apothecary in the garden, so simple, not to be found. And not only in the garden. You yourself will then, when you put the main charge on the rails, it will go by itself, and something interesting self begs to be seen. Belarus and the climate is milder.
Ivan, thanks, I also thought it was unlikely that something worthwhile would come by itself, i.e. most likely some “simple daisy”. The climate in Belarus is milder. So there is a lot to compare it with. I get the impression that it’s mostly warmer and wetter, and here it’s more northern than usual by local standards (literally just a little south) and people have plantations of tomatoes, cucumbers…
But you don’t have to stumble upon anything worthwhile…don’t think miracles don’t happen.) )) And he replies: “I’ve been cultivated for 6,000 years”))))).
The trick here is precisely that the eye discerns all the signs. It’s implied. If before it was all – like the Japanese, on one face, then today: – oh – but what is this? You have to go and look on the Internet. You search – does it turn out that you become “sighted” and your own plants? And it turns out that they were already there)) just did not notice.
Every year I plan to make a healing bed and always lack the time and sometimes the systemic knowledge. This year I hope that we will still plant medicinal plants, stock them for the future and drink vitamin and healthy teas in the winter, especially since there are two magnificent linden, lemongrass, mint growing on our plot of land. Thanks for the tips.
The idea of creating a pharmaceutical bed has matured for more than one year. Due to the fact that free land and all sorts of beds for vegetables under fruit trees, for berry bushes, for flower beds near our plot was already so much, it was difficult to choose a place to implement the idea. But as it happened, there was an idea in finding a place for the cherished bed, and I found it… cleared, outlined the circle and the experiment began… some time after I became a lover of spices and spicy herbs in cooking, a fan of herbal teas, but I thought, why shouldn’t the same parsley, celery, basil, thyme, oregano grow in my vegetable garden…. It turned out to create my own apothecary garden, I was guided mainly by the phytotherapeutic properties of plants: it’s great to have different medicinal herbs on hand to help brewed leaves of sage or thyme. Use parsley, celery in a salad; Make fragrant tea with oregano or monardia; To flavor a meat dish with a sprig of rosemary …. in the garden of love, indispensable when growing plants for a fragrant bed, its ornamentality, beauty (the particular structure of the leaves, beautiful and longer flowering, fragrance) is also important. With these requirements I began to create my apothecary garden… I have read many articles on the subject, the advice of “experienced” gardeners, members of the group 7 Dach.ru, did not leave without attention… It is so clear… the process of not one season is going on, the seedlings of some plants have grown, this is me with my own hands from a tiny seed, then I waited another year to admire their blooming… but anyhow, was my Aptekarsky garden with its own life… in my opinion, I would like to show some of the specimens that have taken the lead in this small fragrant bed.
Thyme blooms from June to September
Nearby is a family of apothecary
It seems that when I published my “apothecary vegetable garden” I still did not have a complete picture of its “Tas” type… I printed in A4 format so that the 2022 season would be a clear example to emulate. Additions and improvements. But the idea seems to have succeeded …
