How to Plan Your Medicinal Herb Garden

I love growing my own medicinal herbs, and I plan my garden well in advance. There are certain herbs I use all the time, and those are the ones that I make it a point to grow. And, I always make sure to plant herbs that will work in the kitchen as well. For example, two of my favorite herbs are peppermint and parsley. I use them all the time in my cooking and they are also good medicine. I use spearmint to aid digestion and parsley works well when I need a diuretic. In my cooking I use parsley for garnishes and mint makes its way into my stuffed grape leaves. I usually spend the winter planning which herbs will go in my garden. I research the herbs thoroughly and determine where in the yard they will thrive best. This allows me plenty of time to start some of them from seed if I need to, or begin to track them down in the garden centers early on in the season.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Measurements of your gardening space
• A list of herbs to consider
• Herb books and online resources for research
• Understanding of any ailments or health concerns you may have

1. Measure your garden space.
   
   The first thing you need to do is consider where you want your herb garden. Keep in mind that not all herbs thrive in the same conditions. So, you may need to have more than one plot in your gardening space. For example, some plants may require full sun, others may require full shade, and some require a mixture of both.
   
   If you have measurements of the different gardening areas that are available to you, you'll be able to decide where to place each herb.
2. Make a rough list of herbs.
   
   Your next step is to make a rough list of herbs that you would like to consider. This list is simply a brainstorm. You'll need to research the herbs further to make sure they are appropriate for your needs or will grow in your climate.
   
   Also consider that some herbs don't need to be planted in your garden because you can find them in abundance growing wild. Common lawn "weeds" such as chicory, dandelion, plantain, and chickweed are perfect examples of this.
   
   You may want to start with the plants that you like. Think about the herbal teas you tend to buy or the herbs that you like cooking with. All cooking herbs and spices have medicinal value. This is a great place to start if you are just getting into learning about medicinal herbs.
3. Think about your needs.
   
   Your next step is to think about the different ailments or health concerns you may have and choose the plants that can help. Place these herbs on your list for further consideration.
   
   For example, if your family gets frequent colds, you'll want to include herbs like elderberry, peppermint, chamomile and sage on that list.
4. Research the different plants.
   
   Once you made your list with herbs to consider for your garden, the next step is to research the plants. Make sure they are truly appropriate for your situation. You'll also want to learn about the growing conditions that the plant requires, whether or not the plant will grow in your zone, and when you'll need to harvest it.
   
   Burdock root, for example, needs to be harvested on a two year plant. If you''ll only be living in the house for a year, it's pointless to plant the burdock in the ground.
5. Decide where they'll go.
   
   Once you do the appropriate research, you'll need to figure out where the plants will go. Use the measurements of your garden spaces to figure out exactly what you'll need to plant and where you'll need to plant it. This extra level of planning will help you save time and money in the long run because you won't buy anything unnecessary.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have a lot of garden space, you may want to plant things in containers.
• Don't overwhelm yourself. If you're new to gardening, choose only a few plants to work with. Two or three of your favorites will be more than adequate in the beginning.
• Make sure the herbs you choose are not dangerous to your health or toxic.