Healing Gardening: Medicinal Herbs and Plants to Grow at Home

Gardening your own medicinal herbs at home is easy to do, and can often save you money over the cost of packaged herbal medication. Medicinal herbs have been used for healing for thousands of years, for many symptoms and purposes, including treating infection and reducing pain and anxiety. They can complement traditional medicinal practices or offer a milder alternative to pharmaceutical medication.

Unfortunately, medicinal herbs can be pricey when purchased in the capsules and teas available at health food stores, and they become even more expensive when you insist on organic. For an avid gardener, growing your own medicinal herbs can not only save you money on herbal medicines; it can offer a relaxing respite in which you can contribute to your own healing medication.

Herbal medicine should only be practiced by a qualified and educated practitioner. While some of these herbs are mild and sometimes make attractive and tasty garnishes for salads, others pack a powerful punch and can react poorly with some medications. Talk to a doctor experienced in herbal medicine to determine the proper medicinal dose for the healing herbs you grow in your garden.

Let's look at some herbs that are easy to grow in a home herb garden.

Lovage

Used for a wide variety of symptoms and ailments, including skin irritations and problems with flatulence, lovage is an easy to grow herb that will thrive in a wet garden environment.

Lovage is one of the rare herbs that enjoys a moist soil, so if you have a wet patch of ground with good soil nutrients, you can easily grow lovage, and right next to a patch of fragrant mint if it suits your fancy.

Valerian

Valerian root is used as a medicinal herb to treat anxiety and insomnia. In the garden it has summer-blooming pink, purple or white flowers with a sweet fragrance that some compare to cooked cherries. With considerable supplementation of nitrogen in the soil, valerian is easy to grow.

However, valerian root is prone to weeds, and if you intend to consume the valerian root at all, weed control is best done by hand. Applying fertilizer in the right amounts can help control weeds; if you overfertilize, this makes the prospect of weeds more likely.

Echinacea

Echinacea is a common remedy for colds and other viral ailments in many parts of the world. In some areas of the United States, Echinacea grows wild and is known as a Purple Coneflower. These beautiful purple flowering plants are easiest to grow from seed, and suffer from few plant diseases and pests. The most significant pest for Echinacea gardens is usually the aphid, which can be controlled by introducing some lovely ladybugs to control the aphids.

Other easy-to-grow medicinal herbs for the home garden include American ginseng, goldenseal, catnip and dandelion.

Warning!

Check with a doctor who knows your medical history and the prescriptions you are taking before using any medicinal herb. Some herbs have powerful effects, and some can interact with or negate medications you might be taking for existing medical conditions. Consult your physician with a list of the herbs you want to take and a list of your current prescriptions to ensure that you are using herbal medicine safely.

References/Resources:

Johnny's Selected Seeds: Herbs

Growing Valerian Root

University of Maryland Medical Center: Complementary and Alternative Medicine Guide

University of Maryland Medical Center: Echinacea

Bellarmine University: Spot Distribution on Ladybug Elytra