How to reach pick fitness
CHECK out the The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants: An A-Z of Healing Plants and Home Remedies from the experts at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, pictured right. It’s filled with growing tips and advice plus 25 home-grown remedies you can make yourself.
Its author, Jason Irving is a writer, forager and qualified herbalist who works at Kew Gardens.
AS OUR climate becomes more like that of the Mediterranean, with cooler, wetter winters and drier, hotter summers, now is an ideal time to extend the range of exciting plants in your garden, advises
manager of the arboretum and gardens at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
“In the UK we are able to grow plants that were not hardy in our climate even 10 years ago,” says Tony who has just published a new book, Gardening With Drought-Friendly Plants.
Here he suggests a few that are happy to take the heat...
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Rosemary is also a good source of Vitamin B6 and helps boost the e immune system. Eating rosemary y with your food will also help improve concentration and your memory.
Beautiful parsley tastes great as a garnish on soup or in sandwiches and is known to support bone health and fight inflammatory allergic reactions. Whereas something like chamomile, via fresh chamomile tea, is good for tackling skin irritation, but is of course better-known for aiding sleep.
“MOST are evergreen, some are herbaceous and die back in the winter, re-growing in spring,” Tony explains. “E. myrsinites is low growing, with whorls of blue-green succulent-like foliage, topped with sulphur yellow flowers, in late spring. E. characias has tall stems,
soil will be important for growing the most nutrient-packed apothecary.
Before planting, choose an area of your garden and dig it over as much as you can, removing any stones or weeds which will compete for nutrients.
Then add in plenty of organic matter; things like farmyard manure, leaf mould, or even bags of soil conditioner from your local garden centre. Ensuring you crop the plants regularly is essential, otherwise they can get a little leggy.
Some people like to plant a herb wheel around a central focal point such as a sundial or a birdbath. Like spokes coming out, you can create a circular patch, with each section growing a different variety. Garlic in one compartment next to lavender, then feverfew, and so it goes on around the circle.
The one thing you should really do is position a seating area, such as an arbour with a bench where you can sit and relax, in your garden.
Being outside, enjoying the fresh air and peace and simply spending time with nature is as important for your health as it is for the plants.