Medicinal Garden Herbs

[Laura]

I have a space in the front yard, by the house that gets anywhere from no sun to 8 hours of sun......

If I were going to plant a Medicinal Garden, what would you recommend and why?

Thanks so much!
Laura

[Pokeberry Mary]

Are you saying the sun pattern changes seasonally?

Is it sunny in summer? If so what climate do you live in?

That makes a difference.

If you have full sun in a southern climate it narrows your choices a bit. But --most herbs are pretty tough and will grow in a variety of conditions. Some are woodland herbs and won't like full sun in any climate. Like Sweet Woodruff--one of my favorites--I keep it in the woods.

Full sun herbs that are useful medicinally--some of my favorites are tansy, peppermint, lavendar, rosemary, thyme-- most are also useful for the kitchen.

sage, hyssop, ... comfrey..

Some spread quite alot so you may not be able to have them together with others--such as tansy, mint and comfrey--they are likely to need their own space.

another one I like is hops-- but dunno about the shade--again it depends on when you are shady--if its winter--no biggy for sun lovers.

Medicinal uses--well I personally mainly use herbs for 'relaxing teas' or to ease congestion and coughs. I did once use a chamomile tea bag to make a sort of makeshift poultice for a bad infection on my son's knee--it literally cleared it up overnight after continually replacing it with fresh hot teabags and keeping a damp rag and some foil over it--to keep it very warm. It brought the infection right out--we were uninsured at the time and I did this as a 'last ditch' idea thinking I'd have to take him for antibiotics--but wow-- it actually worked. :meeting:

[neparose]

Plants need the sun to "thrive". Which you'll want them to do when your going to be harvesting from them. If you grow an herb for the root, for example, you'll likely need a bunch of them to replace what your taking and to keep them established. Also what Mary says is true about some of them being pretty invasive and needing space. They are however, not very picky about the soil they are in. Is there possibly somewhere else on your property that gets sun but is not suitable for gardening? Like a hillside, or property borders? Just my own experience, but, everything I moved to the shady part of our property, nearly died off. I had beds that had been going for over 10 years, and 2 years in a shady area has nearly wiped them out completely. And I thought NOTHING could kill tansy.

[Pokeberry Mary]

I will just qualify a bit though.. about shade. Here in our climate in South Carolina--a plant has to be tough as nails to handle full sun. I plant alot of things here in semi-shade that would have been full sun plants up north. Even in the shade it gets quite hot in summer. I'm going deeper and deeper into the woods to plant some things--like the woodruff I mentioned. it has died on me in my semi shade beds.
here also things have to get water almost daily in summer--so if it isn't a rainy summer--you got a job to do--though herbs generally will be less demanding than most things--they still need some care here.:)

[Laura]

I am zone 5, Central Indiana.
The spot is on the North side of my home.
As the sun comes up, most of my garden gets ALL of the sun.
There is a part where the house over hangs and it gets like 20 min of sun a day!
It gets a good amount of wind too....

The sun / shade pattern above stays that way year around...

HTH! Thanks so much!
Laura

[Pokeberry Mary]

Most herbs will want more sunshine--but there are some fun medicinals and multi use herbs that may do well in shade.

Here are some I would suggest trying--
sweet woodruff--smells lovely, makes a pretty ground cover, put it in wine for "may wine' a nice little treat.

violets--these have some medicinal use and are prolific in shade and tough enough for the wind.

Otherwise--why not go with some woodsy plants? ferns, solomon's seal (root is medicinal) lilly of the valley--just smells good!!, jack in the pulpit, trilliums, etc...

You can have a pretty sweet smelling border--add in some hosta for the gorgeous leaves and flower spikes.

Just a thought. :)

[Pokeberry Mary]

post above--I was making suggestions for that shady spot.

For the full sun--you can grow boat loads of different medicinals-- what sort of health issues do you want to treat?

[Laura]

Mary,

Not really any health 'issues' but looking for things that will keep just in case :-)
I am more looking for immune system builders....things like that.

Thanks so much!
Laura

[Pokeberry Mary]

Well there are just so many to choose from! In a shady spot though--I'd go for making it pretty and just considering the herbal value as a sort of side perk.

Violets--are good for vitamin c, you might try wild ginger or strawberries,maybe ginseng? Also small sedums are actually eaten in some korean recipes. One thing is don't crowd too much in because it will all spread and you might like to give it some mulch too.:)
Just a few more ideas.

[bookwormom]

A medicinal herbgarden. You can plant some peppermint, lemon balm, parsley there. The peppermint will go hogwild. Sweet woodruff takes half shade. There are some wild herbs that grow in the woods that can take shade. I do have some Sweet Cecily growing in a shady bed. I also have Echinacea growing in partial shade and it does fine. It gets afternoon sun. A lot, if not most medicinal herbs that can be grown in a garden, like sun. It would not be my choice for a herbgarden, unless you really are limited in space. I just started a few beds on the northside by the summerkitchen, for kitchenherbs and salad greens mostly. so I don't have to run over to the garden all the time. Lovage, parsley, chives, dill were doing fine. I have peppermint growing on the northside of the house and it does well.