By Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Natural Solutions
Luckily, you don’t have to head to landscaping school to create a medicinal garden. You don’t even need a backyard, since many healing plants do well in containers. Growing herbs is so simple that even people who routinely kill houseplants will find they can do it. Many herbs, in fact, thrive on benign neglect; the less water they get, the stronger their medicinal compounds. And in most cases, there’s no need to fertilize them. Turning the herbs into soothing teas and tinctures is easy, too.
Below, we’ve picked five of our favorites and asked experts to help us understand just how to grow and harvest them—and how to transform them into aromatic, and often tasty, healers.
What it’s good for: Sharpening memory
When British herbalist Anne McIntyre was a student, she kept rosemary sprigs on her desk during classes, squeezing the oils onto her hands. “The scent stimulates blood flow to the brain and aids concentration,” says McIntyre, author of The Medicinal Garden and ten other herb-related books. Years later, science came to the same conclusion. In a 1998 study, University of Miami researchers exposed 40 adults to three minutes of rosemary scent. The group showed increased alertness and worked math problems faster—and no less accurately—than they had before the aromatherapy session.
How To Grow It: Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant, thriving in sun and well-drained soil. If your winters are very cold, grow it in a pot and take the pot inside for the winter. It’s hard to grow from seed, so start with a plant. Or cut a spike from a friend’s plant at the woody end. Add rooting hormone (available at plant centers) to light soil, insert the cutting, and chances are it will root.
How To Use It: Ancient scholars used to wear wreaths of rosemary around their heads, but you don’t have to go that far. Nurse Dorie Byers, author of Herbal Remedy Gardens, simmers a cup of rosemary needles in two quarts of uncovered water, letting the smell waft through the house whenever she’s doing brain work. Or you can brew rosemary tea, adding one to two teaspoons of rosemary needles to one cup boiling water. Steep it for five minutes, strain the herbs, add a squirt of lime juice, and enjoy. Of course, if you’re feeling both forgetful and hungry, rubbing chopped rosemary over chicken or fish creates a dish you’re bound to remember.
What it’s good for: Calming digestion
It’s no coincidence that Indian restaurants set out tiny bowls of fennel seeds to chew on after dinner. Anethole, the active ingredient inside the seed, relaxes the smooth muscles of the stomach, easing digestion. Even the ancient Romans praised its healing properties, including scientist Pliny the Elder, who listed 22 medical uses for it.
How To Grow It: Fennel’s easy to propagate from seed, shooting up to as high as 6 or 7 feet, and returning each year if you let it go to seed. It loves sun and dry, rich soil. Plant the seeds in early April, covering lightly with soil. Thin the seedlings to about 15 inches apart.
How To Use It: Gather the seeds from the end of the feathery stalks. With a mortar and pestle, crush one to two teaspoons—fresh or dry—and add those to a cup of boiling water. Let it steep for ten minutes, strain, and sip. “If you have digestive problems, drink a cup after every meal until your digestion is better,” suggests McIntyre. Or try eating the seeds straight, or brewing a tea with a teaspoon each of fennel seeds and peppermint. You can also sprinkle fennel seeds into bread or biscotti dough. And of course the fennel bulb, which also contains the antispasmodic oils, is delicious added to stews and soups.
What it’s good for: Soothing cuts and burns
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all praised aloe vera for its ability to heal sores and soothe itchy skin—and modern science has followed their lead. Researchers have touted aloe vera for treating herpes blisters, burns, wounds, and frostbite. It works its magic through substances that block the production of inflammation-promoting prostaglandins. In lab studies, the plant has been shown to inhibit histamines (one source of itchiness). It also contains bradykininase, which relieves pain and reduces redness and swelling.
How To Grow It: Although you have to buy your first plant, by the end of its first year it will have five or six baby “pups,” tiny plantlets that will grow into another plant, says gardener John Beirne, developer and manager of the horticultural therapy programs at NewBridge Services, a behavioral health agency in Pompton Plains, New Jersey: “Give it a good tug, and a pup will separate from the mother plant.” A succulent, aloe vera doesn’t need much water or care. But it likes warm weather, so bring it inside before the temperature falls below 40 degrees.
How To Use It: Inside each plump aloe spear is the clear gel that doubles as a salve. Keep a pot in your kitchen window, and each time you get a burn or cut, pluck a leaf, cut it open, and spread the gel on the tender spot. Sharleen Andrews-Miller, a botanical medical faculty member at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, likes to mix about a tablespoon of gel from the plant with a couple of drops of lavender oil for an especially aromatic remedy.
What it’s good for: Boosting energy
It turns out that “minty fresh” is more than just an advertising slogan. Spearmint’s probably best known as a stomach soother, aiding digestion while easing stomach spasms. But anyone who’s sipped a steamy cup of spearmint tea also knows the lift it can bring. It contains a number of central nervous system stimulants, including menthol, that boost energy more gently than caffeine does. And several may sharpen mental energy by preserving acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter vital to memory and learning. The mint also stimulates blood flow, which may account for its reputed ability to boost another kind of energy: lust. According to McIntyre, ancient Romans refused their warriors mint, fearful they’d focus only on the women they’d left behind.
How To Grow It: You can grow spearmint from seed, but it’s easier to divide a root from a friend’s plant. “Once you plant it,” says Beirne, “it will grow forever, so it’s a great plant to be generous with.” If you want something other than mint in your garden, plant it in a pot, or it will take over. It thrives in almost any condition, even partial shade, although it does best in damp, cool soil.
How To Use It: James A. Duke, a world-renowned herbal expert and author of The Green Pharmacy and Anti-Aging Prescriptions, simply chews on spearmint straight from his garden. Sharleen Andrews-Miller likes to brew a fresh handful in a cup of boiling water, letting it steep for five to ten minutes. Or you can hang bunches upside down in a dry spot out of direct sunlight, crumble a few leaves, and add two teaspoons to a cup of boiling water. “But don’t let it steep more than five or ten minutes, or your mouth will pucker from the tannins,” she says. It’s also great cut up and tossed into salads, tabbouleh, and cold pasta dishes.
What it’s good for: Easing insomnia
For those who toss and turn, the scent of lavender may well beat counting sheep—or even popping sleeping pills. In one small 1995 study, British researchers found that infusing the scent of lavender into the rooms of nursing home patients worked just as well as sleep medication. Not only did the patients get to sleep faster, they slept more peacefully. The 1998 study that examined rosemary also found that a brief dose of lavender aromatherapy increased drowsiness. “Lavender has a sedative effect on the central nervous system and releases muscle tension,” says British herbalist McIntyre, author of The Medicinal Garden and ten other herb-related books. In fact, when new patients arrive at McIntyre’s office, nervous about what might be brewing in a back-room cauldron, she pulls out the lavender. “I can see its calming effect,” she says.
How To Grow It: Like rosemary, lavender is a Mediterranean plant. It likes sun and dry, rocky soil that will force it to struggle a bit. It’s slow to germinate, so rather than grow it from seed, it’s best to buy your first plant or pull a side shoot off a friend’s plant and stick it in sandy or light soil to root. It should be planted outdoors and can be happy either in a pot or in the ground. Water it well until it’s established—and during hot summers—but don’t overdo it; lavender doesn’t like soggy roots. In temperate climates, it will come back each spring, sending up its tall stems adorned with tiny purple flowers.
How To Use It: When the flowers open, cut the lavender stalks, tie them in small bunches, and hang them upside down in a dry place out of direct sunlight. Depending on the temperature and humidity, the flowers should dry in two to four weeks. Herbalist and nurse Dorie Byers suggests filling small muslin bags (sold in health food stores for tea) with dried flowers and placing one between your pillow and pillowcase.
You can also make a tea by adding one teaspoon of dried or two teaspoons of fresh blossoms to a cup of boiling water, and letting them steep covered for ten minutes. Strain and drink just before going to sleep. To make a tincture, add approximately 7 ounces of dried lavender flowers to four-fifths of a quart of glycerol (a syrupy alcohol also called “glycerine” and available in health food stores) and one-fifth of a quart of water. Or use one cup brandy or vodka and three cups of water. Cover for two weeks. For sleep, take one teaspoon after dinner and 2 to 3 teaspoons at bedtime.
