A healing ‘weed’ that’s really a herb
AFTER some intensive gardening during a recent hot spell, I was lying face down on the lawn, regarding the grass beneath me.
It’s amazing how much is going on in your lawn if you just stop and have a closer look – there were all sorts of bugs and spiders down there.
Our lawn is not cut short or often, as many are during summer, I like to let the grass and daisies grow longer than some pristine gardeners.
In fact, I have had the odd argument with some of those obsessive grass-snippers, who are leaving nowhere for the creepy-crawlies to flourish.
During my close-up study, I noticed something purple hiding beneath the greenery and discovered that this was common selfheal.
Look up selfheal on your search engine and you will come across all sorts of ways to “DESTROY THIS WEED!”
This surprised me because I find this plant to be pretty and, over the years, it has been used in many beneficial ways.
As its name suggests, selfheal was used as a herbal medicine for many things, including stopping bleeding and healing wounds, to treating heart disease and sore throats.
People still use it to treat insect bites, allergies and piles.
It is also known as woundwort and slough heal.
If you take a bite – after washing it – or make tea from selfheal, it actually tastes a little like rosemary and is a mint.
Selfheal is actually a herb, hiding in our lawns and grassy verges.
It never really reaches its full height in the lawn but I have also seen it while I am out walking along country lanes.
It is a creeping plant but it can grow up to 20 to 30cm.
It is in mid-season now and will flower from June to September, which makes it a great source of late nectar for bees and wasps.
Selfheal has paired, oval leaves and bluish or violet flowers that appear in dense, oblong clusters on the top of its stems.
Its purple-tinged seed head remains after flowering.
So, instead of demonising this beautiful plant that adds colour to our garden, let’s celebrate selfheal for its healing qualities.
We live in a world that is too quick to find expensive alternatives to our own natural remedies.
I will be out late to chew on some selfheal to see if it can cure my own sore throat.
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