The Secret Herb Garden
When you are herb gardening you need to be careful about the design you choose and the effort required to maintain the garden. This is even more important if the herbs that you are growing are used for medicinal or culinary purposes. This concept comes from ancient classical world descriptions of gardens.
The history of herb gardens
You usually dedicate a patch of garden for a particular purpose. This may be for growing fruits, vegetables, medicines or flowers. There were some nuns and monks who, in medieval times, had special medical knowledge. These people worked on growing herbs in gardens so that they had easy access to medicinal herbs. The herbs that they grew were sage, thyme, oregano, dill, rosemary and angelica. The renaissance saw these monastic herb gardens become a much bigger investment. Recently, a number of horticulturists and historians had worked real hard to make herb gardens popular once again.
The gardens of today are at time functional and at times ornamental.
Horticulturists use cultivation of these herbs to design their flower beds. Nowadays, people are encouraged to use alternate medicine from herbs and to grow them on their own instead of purchasing them from markets. Herb gardens let people use fresh herbs for medicinal purposes. There is not much trouble involved in this and they just need a little care in order to thrive.
Herb gardening care
It is very easy to grow herbs. If you are using the right soil for them then they can grow with very little extra support. It is very interesting to learn that herbs do well in soil that other plants would not be able to. There is hardly any fertilizer involved in the process.
They can even tolerate droughts and re grow consistently. This is one of the main reasons why picking herbs is very easy. Here are some herbs that you can grow and the conditions that they require to thrive:-
Chives – They thrive in pots. They also do well in garden patches. This herb grows beyond one foot. The plant also bears pretty purple flowers. You need to sow saplings bunched together. While clipping it, you should only clip the leaves that are near the base.
Lavender – This herb needs to stay on the plant till you are ready to use it for your perfume or potpourri. This herb covers a lot of ground and also spreads a lovely fragrance through your garden which complements its pinkish purple flowers beautifully. You hardly need to take care of this herb. All it needs is some well drained soil.
Parsley – This is a very good indoor herb. It needs to be potted if you want it to last more than a year. You can grow this herb much more easily from plants. The new leaves come out at the center and this is why you have to trim the outer leaves in order to keep the plant healthy.
You can grow any of these herbs in small pots. Except for medicine and cooking, people also grow herbs for their aromatic foliage as well as the beauty of their flowers. They are also used as salad garnish and to give flavor to meat and vegetables
