7905 MEN Guide to Growing Herbs

20 It was such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.

—KATE MORTON, “THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN”

ON THE COVER Xeriscape 22 Fresh Herbs 68 Bugs in the Garden 30 Toxic Twins 66 Design Gardens 37 Shade-Loving Herbs 74 Cover Image: Veer/Fancy Photography

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Garden Basics SPRING FORWARD 9 Before you can get down and dirty in the garden, use this checklist to prepare your garden for the beautiful spring weather ahead.

6 GARDEN MISTAKES TO AVOID 10 Check out these natural blends— with options for any mood and personality—to freshen your living spaces without toxic chemicals.

ZERO-WASTE GARDENING 12 Save money and aid the environment by reducing the resources that go into your garden.

MULCH QUESTIONS ANSWERED 14 Our garden expert explains the numerous benefits of mulching.

ALL ABOUT ORGANIC GARDEN FERTILIZERS 17 Natural sources of soil nutrients are available for free, yet in some instances you might want to buy supplemental fertilizers. Use this guide to build your soil’s nutrient content and save money over other fertilizers.

BUILD BETTER GARDEN SOIL 20 Healthy soil is the key to a more productive garden and a higherquality harvest. Use these organic methods to turn plain old dirt into superhealthy garden soil.

SAVE WATER, PLANT WISELY: XERISCAPE 22 The Southeast was in a severe drought, and I realized it was time to brush up on all the water wisdom I learned while living in the arid West.

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26 DEFEND YOUR GARDEN WITH HERBS 26 Rescue your garden from insect invaders with common-sense methods and ‘green’ repellents.

BUG-EAT-BUG WORLD 30 For all-natural pest control, encourage helpful bugs (the kind that like to eat garden pests) to alight on your plot of land.

Garden Plans

THE EASIEST HERB GARDEN EVER 37 When life intrudes on your hobbies, try this garden plan to ease the workload.

A SIMPLE KITCHEN HERB GARDEN 40 These 10 delicious herbs make for an easy-to-grow garden bursting with flavor.

DESIGNS: A 21ST CENTURY APOTHECARY GARDEN 44 Step outside your door to enter a tranquil sanctuary you’ve filled with healing herbs.

AN INDOOR WINTER HERB GARDEN 48 Keep eating healthful fresh herbs throughout the colder months with this advice for indoor success with culinary herbs.

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Herb Gardening

Herb Spotlight

BALM FOR BEES: PLANT MEDICINES FOR OUR BUSY BUDDIES 56 The owner of a well-known botanical business believes herbs have the power to help pollinators, too.

Diy Projects

CUT, DIVIDE & CONQUER: A GUIDE TO PROPAGATING HERBS 50 Fill your landscape for free, beautify your garden and share the bounty with these three easy techniques.

WHY ARE MY HERBS DYING? 63 Problem-proof your garden. Our expert solves common troubles associated with rosemary, sage and basil.

3 TOXIC TWINS 66 Avoid these poisonous plants that look like garden favorites.

YOUR GUIDE TO FRESH HERBS YEAR ROUND 68 With a little preparation, plant knowhow and winter protection, it’s possible to have herbs in every season.

SEVEN SHADE-LOVING HERBS 74 Don’t resign yourself to standard shadefillers when you can be growing useful herbs that thrive in low-light conditions.

21 NATIVE PLANTS 78 Grow a low-maintenance native garden full of hardy plants. Plus, learn how to spot edible native herbs in the wild.

LAVENDER OBSESSION 82 On a warm, sunny day, it doesn’t get much better than brushing up against a lavender plant and inhaling the intoxicating aroma.

CREATE A GARDENING NOOK 86 Don’t cram your passion into a too-small area one day longer. Carve out a designated niche in your home where you can do all things garden – repot, start seeds, design and dream.

MAKE YOUR OWN CONCRETE BIRDBATH 88 Attract feathered friends to your garden with a homemade water feature.

SELF-WATERING GARDEN HOSE POT 90 Reuse an old garden hose and transform into a beautifully crafted self-watering pot for your favorite herbs.

Cooking Tips

A GUIDE TO DRYING SPICES 92 Growing and drying herbs and spices are among the easiest forms of food preservation.

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Defend

Your Garden with

Herbs Rescue your garden from insect invaders with common-sense methods and “green” repellents.

BY T I N A M A R I E W I LCOX A N D S U S A N B E L S I N G E R

YOU’VE CODDLED YOUR SEEDLINGS, nourished your soil, and provided a cozy habitat for beneficial birds and insects. Yet by early to midsummer, an explosion of aphids, Japanese beetles or some other insect pest threatens to destroy not only your serenity, but also your garden’s beauty and bounty.

The good news is you can stop these insect invaders without turning to dangerous pesticides. Rely on these common-sense strategies and time-tested herbal repellents that almost always do the trick.

Keep Your Eyes Open

The strategies for staying ahead of garden pests are fairly simple. First and foremost, be aware of the life in your garden. Look for insects and mites and observe their activity daily, or as often as possible. Scout for common pests (see “Garden Rogues’ Gallery” on page 29), but keep in mind that some insects such as ladybugs, lacewings and praying mantises are beneficial predators that can help control pests. (Read more about beneficial bugs on page 30.) If you have trouble identifying what you’re seeing, contact your County Extension agent, who can help. The Penn State IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Program for home gardens has photos and information on 25 common garden pests.

Damaged leaves are a good indication that a plant is infested with some insect pest. If you look a bit closer, you’ll probably see eggs, larvae and/or adult insects. Check the bottom of leaves, where pests (especially spider mites) often congregate. Also examine stem junctions, where mealybugs hide their egg masses. Aphids are especially fond of the tender tips of plants, and ants even will carry them there to keep the population growing!

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Spraying Simplified

Now that you’ve determined that a pest has taken up residence among your plants, you can take actions to stop it. Begin with the least toxic, least expensive and most convenient method first: a strong spray of water.

You’ll need an adjustable nozzle turned to the fan setting. This will allow you to direct a wedge of water over a large plant surface. Adjust the pressure so the water will wash away pests without damaging the plant.

Spray the entire plant side to side and top to bottom as well as the top and bottom of leaves until the plant is completely clean.

The best time to spray water (or any control product) is in the cool of the day when plants are not in direct sunlight. In direct sun, water droplets act as tiny magnifiers, concentrating light on plant tissues and causing them to burn. Plant-feeding pests also are less energetic and easier to target in early morning and evening.

Besides using these water baths to stop pests, we also use a homemade Garlic and Chile Insecticidal Soap Spray (see instructions at right), neem oil and horticultural oil, alternating among them monthly, if necessary, to keep pests off balance.

For instance, after we spot an infestation, we first blast the plant with plain water, then follow with our garlic-chile-soap spray every three to five days until the pest is gone. A single spray rarely removes all of the tiny pest eggs, which are attached to leaves with strong webbing. Also, rain washes off the soap spray, so you need to respray every few days.

If the pest still is present after a month or so, we switch to a neem oil solution, applied according to package directions. And if neither the garlicchile-soap nor the neem oil sprays do the trick after two months, we use horticultural oil spray the third month.

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GARLIC AND CHILE INSECTICIDAL SOAP SPRAY Susan has been making this spray for more than 20 years. In late summer, she routinely sprays this on plants before bringing them indoors for winter.

Tina adds 10 drops cinnamon, vetiver or eucalyptus essential oil to the concentrate when she makes it. Makes about 3 cups concentrate.

10 to 12 large cloves garlic 4 to 6 dried or fresh hot chile peppers Generous 2 cups water 1 tablespoon liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s) 10 drops cinnamon, vetiver or eucalyptus essential oil, optional

1. Put garlic, chiles and water into a blender and purée contents until foamy.

2. Let mixture stand at least 2 hours or overnight. When mixture settles, you will have a coral-colored liquid with sediment at the bottom.

3. Pour through a strainer lined with fine cheesecloth (or through a coffee filter or jelly bag) to remove particles that could block the sprayer valve.

4. Pour concentrate into a jar with a plastic lid (not metal), add soap, stir and label.

5. Store in a cool, dark place until needed, up to a few months. For a 1-quart or 1-liter spray bottle, use 2 tablespoons concentrate; fill the rest of the bottle with water.

6. Spray plants late in the day, so hot sun can’t burn the plants. Cover the top and bottom of leaves. Reapply as often as needed, but allow several days between applications.

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❻ The wheel bug, like the big-eyed bug on Page 31, is a predatory bug.

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TOP 10

6. Predatory Bugs (Hemiptera)

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This group includes big-eyed, minute pirate, assassin, damsel and certain predatory stink bugs. All these insects use their mouth, or “beak,” to pierce and consume prey. Adults range in size from the minute pirate bug (1⁄16 inch long) to the wheel bug (an assassin bug that’s 1½ inches long; pictured on page 31).

DIET: Nymphs or larvae and adults feed on aphids, caterpillars, scale insects, spider mites and insect eggs. Many also prey upon beetles.

10 Beneficial Bugs

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1. Braconid Wasps (Hymenoptera) North America is home to nearly 2,000 species of these non-stinging wasps.

Adults are less than ½ inch long, with narrow abdomens and long antennae.

Adults lay eggs inside or on host insects; the maggot-like larvae that emerge consume the prey.

7. Soldier Beetles (Coleoptera)

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These elongated, ½-inch-long beetles have soft wing covers. Larvae are brownish and hairy. Adults usually have yellow or red and black markings and resemble fireflies.

DIET: Caterpillars (including tomato hornworms), flies, beetle larvae, leaf

miners, true bugs and aphids. Adults consume nectar and pollen.

DIET: Larvae feed on the eggs and larvae of beetles, grasshoppers, moths and other insects. Adults feed on aphids and other soft-bodied insects, as well as on nectar and pollen.

2. Ground Beetles (Coleoptera)

8. Spiders (Araneae)

Most of the 2,500 species are 1⁄8 to 1½ inches long, dark, shiny and have hard shells.

All of the more than 3,000 North American species—including the crab spider, jumping spider, wolf spider and orb-web spider—are predatory.

DIET: Asparagus beetles, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, corn earworms, cutworms, slugs, squash vine borers and tobacco budworms. Some are also important consumers of weed seeds.

DIET: Depends on species, but can include aphids, beetles, cutworms, fire ants, lacebugs, spider mites, squash bugs and tobacco budworms.

9. Tachinid Flies (Diptera)

3. Hover or Syrphid Flies (Diptera)

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Larvae are small, tapered maggots that crawl over foliage. Black-andyellow-striped adults resemble yellow jackets but are harmless to humans. The adults hover like hummingbirds as they feed from flowers.

There are more than 1,300 North American species of parasitic flies. Most resemble houseflies but with short, bristly hairs on the abdomen. All develop as internal parasites of other insects, including many garden pests. Usually, the adult female attaches its egg to the host insect, which is then consumed by the larva, but there are several other patterns: eggs laid on host, eggs laid into host, eggs laid on foliage to be eaten by host, live larvae laid on or near host, and live larvae laid into host.

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DIET: Larvae eat mealybugs and small caterpillars, and are especially helpful in controlling early-season aphids. The adults feed on nectar and pollen.

4. Lacewings (Neuroptera) Larvae, sometimes called “aphid lions,” measure ½ inch long and are light brown with hooked jaws. Adults are light green or brown and ½ to 1 inch long with transparent wings (pictured on page 33).

DIET: Larvae feed internally on caterpillars, beetles, bugs, earwigs and grasshoppers. Adults feed on nectar, pollen and honeydew.

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10. Trichogramma Mini-Wasps (Hymenoptera) These extremely small wasps lay their eggs inside the host’s eggs, where the young trichogramma develop as internal parasites. Parasitized eggs turn black. Because the trichogramma’s life cycle is very short—just seven to 10 days from egg to adult—their populations can grow rapidly.

DIET: Larvae prey upon aphids, small caterpillars and caterpillar eggs, other

larvae, mealybugs, whiteflies and more. Adults eat honeydew, nectar and pollen, and some eat other insects.

5. Lady Beetles (Coleoptera) All of the nearly 200 beneficial North American species are 1⁄4 inch long.

Larvae, which can resemble tiny alligators, are usually dark and flecked with red or yellow. Adults are rounded and often have orange or red bodies with black spots (pictured on page 33).

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DIET: Pest eggs, especially those of cabbageworms, codling moths, corn earworms, diamondback moths, and other moths and butterflies.

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Veteran garden writer VICKI MATTERN, former editor of The Herb Companion, is one of America’s leading experts on organic gardening.

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A 21st Century

Apothecary Garden Step outside your door to enter a tranquil sanctuary you’ve filled with healing herbs.

BY K AT H L E E N H A L LO R A N G A R D E N I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY G AY L E F O R D

THE QUIET BEAUTY OF AN HERB GARDEN and the peaceful activity of tending it are a respite from the busy, bustling world around us—and for some gardeners, that’s medicine enough.

For others, the herb garden also delivers a steady supply of easy remedies for the upset stomachs, sniffles, headaches and other bumps of daily life. From the apothecary garden comes a harvest of materials for teas, decoctions, salves, tinctures, and tonics to soothe and heal. (To learn how to use your medicinal herbs, visit motherearthliving.com/herbal-apothecary.)

Usefulness and beauty are not mutually exclusive traits in plants. In fact, many essential medicinal herbs are quite lovely in the landscape. I’ve placed this fantasy garden in a small stone courtyard because the enclosed space conjures up the image of medieval monks tending their cloistered garden beds. If you don’t happen to have a courtyard, you can adapt the design by using hedges, ornamental grasses, or a small section of fencing to create a sense of privacy and enclosure.

Apothecary Gardens Through Time

The first healers were herbalists, and the first medicines were derived from plants, so the apothecary garden is steeped in history. The first cultivated apothecary gardens were grown in the Middle Ages by Benedictine monks who studied plants and their therapeutic uses. The monks, who generally could read and write when few other people could, were the record-keepers of the plant world. Every monastery had a healing garden.

Often, these gardens were quite large and contained hundreds of species of plants growing in raised square or rectangular beds with walkways between them. In later centuries, physicians in both the New World and the old maintained their own physic (healing) gardens and stillrooms for growing and preparing botanical medicines.

Out of botanical medicine grew modern medicine, and today we turn to our doctors and pharmacists—not our gardens— when we have a serious health problem. But that doesn’t make a modern apothecary garden irrelevant or useless. We still find a great deal of comfort in traditional herb garden remedies for many of the minor discomforts of today’s world; we can enjoy the plants’ many links to history, tradition, medicine and religion; and we can breathe in the garden’s beauty and fragrance on a daily basis.

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Enjoy herbs in spring, summer, fall or even winter with a little know-how about plant preparation and winter protection.

YOUR GUIDE TO

fresh herbs

BY TA M M I E PA I N T E R

If you’re staring out your window, longing for fresh herbs during cold, wet winter days—take heart.

YEAR-ROUND

With a little preparation, plant know-how and winter protection, it’s possible to have herbs in every season. Select a few (or many) of the plants discussed in this article and follow the accompanying tips to grow a selection of culinary delights throughout the year.

Year-Round Herbs

ROB CARDILLO

What could be better than a plant that provides fresh herbs all year? Although it sounds like a culinary fantasy, several herbs do just that.

When plant shopping, your best choices for yearround herbs are those described as “evergreen” or “hardy.” Even though many of these plants don’t die back in the winter, their growth slows, so try not to be too greedy when harvesting.

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YARROW (Achillea millefolium). This featheryleaved perennial grows almost anywhere and even enhances the disease resistance of neighboring plants. Yarrow is quite hardy, but if a lengthy freeze comes your way, protect it with mulch or a frost barrier. Use the leaves in salads year-round and infuse the summer blooms for a refreshing skin toner or a cleansing hair rinse. Dried yarrow flowers look stunning in herbal arrangements.

Note: Eat yarrow leaves in moderation to avoid skin irritation.

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Make a Self-Watering Garden Hose Pot Reuse an old garden hose and transform it into a beautifully crafted self-watering container for your favorite herbs.

BY S U S A N G UAG L I U M I

Materials ✽ 75 feet of soaker hose for an average planter (16 to 20 inches in diameter and 6 to 10 inches high)* ✽ 350 to 375 (8 inch-long) plastic zip ties per 75 feet of hose ✽ Pliers ✽ Flush cutter ✽ Awl or putty knife ✽ 4 large spring clamps (optional) *Note: Generally, there will be less hose to use for the height of the sides when the base of the planter is wider. For example, when the base measures 10 inches across, one 75-foot hose will produce a planter that’s 10 inches high and 16 inches across the top. If the base is 15 inches across, the planter will end up being 6 inches high and 20 inches across the top. Before you begin, decide on a planter that’s tall and narrow or wide and shallow.

To Make Garden Pot

THE BEST WAY TO ENHANCE your outdoor garden space is with handmade décor. The book Handmade for the Garden by Susan Guagliumi offers a treasure trove of unique and inexpensive projects that use repurposed and easy-to-find materials. For this garden project from Guagliumi’s book, transform an old garden hose into a beautifully crafted potted plant. The best part about this unique idea is that it’s a clever, time-saving way to water your favorite herbs: The selfmade garden container will add water from the bottom, gradually absorbing into the soil above. —GINA DEBACKER is the special issue editor for Mother Earth Living magazine.

2. CLIP ZIP TIE’S EXCESS LENGTH: Use a flush cutter to clip off the zip tie’s excess length close to the lock. (As you build the planter and secure the hose rounds with zip ties, try to nudge all the trimmed ties’ locking ends against the grooves between the hose rounds. Don’t clip each tie individually. Instead, go back and retighten and then trim 10 or 20 ties at once. For the first few rounds, you’ll find it easier to see what you’re doing if you tighten and clip each zip tie as you work.)

5. RETIGHTEN AND TRIM ZIP TIES BEFORE BEGINNING PLANTER’S SIDES: When the base is as large as you want, you’re ready to begin working vertically to build the planter’s sides. This is a good time to retighten and trim all the base zip ties, and turn their locking bumps into the grooves between the coils. The clipped ends of these plastic ties can be sharp, so you can minimize scraped fingers if they all face the same direction as you work.

3. WRAP AND SECURE BEGINNING HOSE END: Wrap the hose around the first folded section, and secure it with a second zip tie. Insert this (and all following ties) through the previous row so each tie encloses two pieces of hose.

6. BUILD PLANTER’S SIDES: The sides are worked exactly like the base, except you’ll position each coil on top of the previous coil, not alongside it. If you use large spring clamps to position the hose in the next section, you won’t have to fight the weight of the hose as you work.

4. WRAP AND BUILD BASE: Continue wrapping more hose around the completed section, adding more zip ties as you work. If you need to add another length of hose, do this: If the hose ends are intact, screw on another length and keep working. If the hose ends are not intact, use a sharp scissor or blade to taper the ends of the old and new hoses at an angle, then insert one into the other.

1. SECURE END OF HOSE: Fold the beginning end of the hose back on itself for about 4 inches, and secure it with a zip tie. Making sure the flat side of the tie’s locking end is against the surface of the hose, insert the straight end through the lock, then pull it up tightly with a pair of pliers. (You can tighten the ties manually, but after a while the plastic is pretty rough on hands, and you’ll need to secure many more ties to complete a planter.)

Once the base has started taking shape, it will require more and more ties to make it stable and strong. It’s safer to have too many rather than too few ties, so don’t skimp.

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Up to now, the placement of the ties has only been important from a structural perspective, but there should be a pattern or regularity to their placement as you build the sides of the container.

Use the last round of the base and the first round of the sides to evaluate the spacing of the zip ties so you can work them in a diagonal, zigzag, or vertical pattern up the sides. This is no more difficult to do than randomly placing the zip ties, but will require a little planning and careful spacing in the first few side rounds. You may have to skip a larger or smaller space before placing the next tie or double up the ties a little in order to establish the beginning of a pattern. You can also measure the spacing and make a series of chalk marks to guide you.

You should find it requires some effort to insert the zip ties between the previous rounds; otherwise you’re not tightening them enough. Initially use a flat putty knife to open up the spaces to insert the ties, but once you get working, insert the ties for the next round before tightening each working tie. The tie’s locking end will hold it between the tightened coils until you work your way around to it on the next round. Doing this is faster and easier on your hands than trying to insert the new ties between tightened coils.

7. TAPER END OF COIL: Taper the last coil to end the planter, and place a couple of extra zip ties close together to secure the ending. For a self-watering planter, don’t taper the end of the hose.

End with the hose connection anchored securely at the top, facing out. It’s helpful to use a quick-connect fitting at the end so you can snap the garden hose into the top of the basket and turn on the water.

8. FINISH UP: Before planting in a large garden hose pot, place some lightweight fillers in the bottom so you don’t need to use as much soil and to promote good drainage. For this purpose, I have used wadded-up, old window screening and large plastic pots (upside down). Avoid heavy fillers like pebbles or pot shards.

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This article was excerpted with permissions from Handmade for the Garden

by Susan Guagliumi, published by STC Craft | Melanie Falick Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, 2014.

Find it at motherearthliving.com/shopping.

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As the base enlarges, Each zip tie secures

When pl planter, in the fir