My Herbs 1

LLet us leave out the wide variety of
one-year and two-year wonders,
like plants that bloom for a first or second
year, shed seeds and die. They are
good to grow in special flower beds,
usually together with vegetables (common
marigolds, French marigolds,
snapdragons, Nigella arvensis). But I
will take you into the realm of perennials,
which, with minimum work, create
an environmentally friendly herb garden.
MAKING THE MOST
OF PERENNIALS
The most popular reason for creating
perennial beds is merely for a pretty
garden. Why not? In such a garden,
pretty perennials do not have to be the
Herbal garden
only choice, for there may be edible
and medicinal plants, or pollen rich
ones, or even species for dyeing.
As for aromatic herbs, they are usually
clustered together, ideally in a sunny
place near the entrance, in order to be
easily reached from the kitchen.
Ground-covering species of perennials
are suited under fruit trees, as well as
under the forest trees and bushes. They
simply grow over the ground, needing
no pruning, especially when you choose
the right, ones and cover them with
a protective layer of organic material
during the first years. This is to win the
battle over weeds and grass in order to
create a lasting compact cover.
Bunchy and trailing perennials can
also line paths, pavements, patios or
lawn edges. So you can sell the trimmer,
as an ordinary lawn mower or scythe
is able to cut up to the edge of the
perennials, and there is no unwanted
grass in less accessible edges. There are
also very substantial and large perennials,
which can be combined with
shrubs, or used separately.
And don’t forget water elements for
perennials like to grow on the edge of
water, whether in the shallows or the
depths. They even help clean the water.
In order to grow, they collect nutrients,
thus starving algae to death. The main
advantage of perennials is that they are
easy to find a home for. If your garden
is not big enough for trees, you can still
have hundreds of species of perennials
in a relatively small piece of land instead.
PROPER HABITAT
In all cases, there are two basic selection
factors – putting the plant in a
place where you have chosen to grow it
(its area requirements) and your preferences
about its appearance and function.
It is not a good idea to buy a
plant about which we know nothing,
and put it in the first aesthetically pleasing
place. With luck it may survive,
but it will more likely suffer and die. In
stores, one can find ornamental and relatively
unusual species of plants grown
in peat compost substrates certainly
with the mind to lure customers back
with their credit cards for replacements.
If you are looking for durable, proven
and honestly grown specimens, you
first need to find out exactly what you
want, and then look for specialized growers.
Thanks to the Internet it
shouldn’t be hard.
With all plants, and this also applies to
10 MY HERBS MAGAZINE