Tips For Getting Started With Your Own Herbal Garden

Are you curious about growing your own herbal medicine?  Or are you interested in using your green-thumb to grow medicinal herbs, but don’t know where to start?  Starting your own garden of medicinal plants is a wonderful way of developing a symbiotic relationship with the plant kingdom as well as deepening your understanding for the herbs that you are drawn to.  

Here are several tips to help you get started:

• First, determine your space and light.  Starting a container outside in the Outer Sunset will have different requirements than a potted garden in the sunny kitchen window in the Mission.  Some plants, like Maidenhair ferns prefer indirect light, while others love full sun.  

• Once that is figured out, look into whether you want a perennial or an annual.  Perennials bloom all year, where annuals complete their life cycle in one year and must be replanted again the next year.  If you are still developing your green thumb, perennials like yarrow, sage and rosemary are wonderful plants to start with. 

• Once you determine the environment and narrow down the possibilities of the types of plants that will thrive in your space, start to consider what you want from your garden.  Do you want an aromatic garden? Try clary sage, rose geranium, chamomile, lavender, rosemary or tulsi.  Do you want a garden where you can make your own herbal remedies for cold season?  Start with garlic, chives, yarrow, echinacea and elderberry.  Do you want to grow native medicinal herbs?  Try planting yarrow, uva ursi, golden poppy, white sage, hummingbird sage and oregon grape.   Another benefit of planting native species, is that the pollinators in your environment LOVE them! Hello butterflies! 

Happy planting!