Gardening with Healing Plants

By J. A. Young

Gardens are bountiful in many ways, but a healing garden is a cultivation of healthful resources, a harvest of helpers. Healing plants are more than just the latest trend in the alternative medicine field; they are historic, literally ancient, curatives for a vast array of rare and common ailments. Many of today’s commercially based medicines are actually derived from some very common garden plants. The subsequent article suggests some common plantings and their use in treating many health conditions.

A healing garden begins with a healthy garden. Check your soil and give it the compost it needs for plantings to thrive. Maintaining your garden involves combating both weeds and pests, providing an adequate water supply, ensuring good drainage and frequently checking for disease or pest problems. Naturally, any garden requires proper care, but a well-tended healing garden provides more than just a pretty landscape; it will function very much like your own natural pharmacy.

Of course, always check with your doctor and never allow home remedies to be a substitute for professional healthcare. These remedies have been historically helpful in treating and relieving the symptoms of many ailments, but serious conditions always demand trained care.

Choosing what to plant is only difficult given the wide range of healers. When selecting plantings, consider what troubles your family periodically. A typical set of conditions could be something like this: Grandfather has gout, Grandmother suffers from arthritis pain, Mother gets migraines, Father feels melancholic from time to time, Son has acne, and Daughter seems to catch every cold. Garden plants can aid all of these very common problems and many more.

Angelica is a medicinal herb that was known for its healing qualities as far back as the fifteenth century. While women have prized it for its ability to promote good menstrual flow and to aid in the relief of muscle spasms, angelica is also helpful for asthma and bronchitis sufferers. Also, the plant’s stems are frequently used in cooking recipes simply for flavor.

European folk medicine often used a lesser-known herb called arnica to treat pain from bruises, sprains or swelling. As this is a toxic plant if ingested, be sure to use it only for compresses or poultices.

Basil has far more uses than simply to flavor your spaghetti sauce. This highly helpful herb belongs in every kitchen and healing garden for its use as a fever reducer. Basil leaves may also be rubbed on irritated skin to relieve stings or bites from garden insects or mild skin irritations. Basil is sometimes used as an analgesic or to lower blood sugar.

Celery, that vegetable so attractive to nosing garden rabbits, has surprising medicinal properties too. Gout, rheumatism and arthritis may each be treated with celery - the seeds in particular are valuable for their healthful benefits.

The first record of dill's healing ability goes back to c1500 B.C. when the ancient Egyptians discovered that dill is a helpful pain killer. Today, dill is used to promote good digestion and to relieve gas. Sufferers of bad breath should consider chewing dill seeds to freshen their mouth naturally.

Garlic is a major contributor to the world of healing plants. It counteracts many infections, particularly those most common to the nose, throat and chest colds, for instance. Garlic combats bacteria as well as parasites. It can help lower blood pressure as well as lower blood sugar. It has many more healthful properties and is a top choice for any healing garden.

St. John’s wort is best known for its antidepressant capabilities. For this reason it flies off the shelves along with valerian of vitamin and health food stores. As a healing plant in your own garden, it is also helpful to relieve menstrual cramp pain.

There are many folk remedies that employ mustard to treat arthritis, inflammation and toothache. Mustard also has many culinary uses in the kitchen.

Wormwood, a component of the infamous concoction known as absinthe, actually has many fine attributes despite its bitter flavor. It is useful for the releasing of gallstones and is known to relieve stomachaches.

These, of course, are only a handful of plants to consider for your garden. The following text lists still more plants to choose along with their healing properties in brief:

Aloe Vera: Sooths and promotes healing of wounds or burns.
Cardamom: Eases stomachaches.
Chicory: Aids in digestion, is a mild laxative and anti-rheumatic.
Lavender: Eases the pain of rheumatism and has mild antidepressant properties.
Marjoram: Treats tonsillitis, bronchitis and asthma.
Motherwort: Calms anxiety, relieves muscle spasms, useful for fertility/pregnancy issues.
Parsley: Relieves urinary tract infections.
Peppermint: Used to treat indigestion, sore throats, toothaches and colds.
Radish: Aids digestion.
Rosemary: Improves memory and circulation. Relieves sore throats and sore gums.