Herbalist Garden

[SaraSunshine]

Hello all!

First time posting, so sorry for any mistakes made.

I have grown more traditional stuff like tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in my parents greenhouse, but as I am now a homeowner and we are building out a garden this spring, I would love some input on a good place to start with herbs and flowers intended for salves, tinctures and just in general useful for a more holistic approach. in my younger years, pesticides in the greenhouse was common but I really want to avoid it if at all possible.

I am anticipating some levels of failure as I am certain critters and pests will get the better of me until I figure it out. So recommendations on more beginner friendly plants would be wonderful.

I would also love to see everyone's gardens for inspiration. Especially the ones fenced off for deer as it is a MUST for me. not even the Hosta's was left unscathed last summer.

 

[Durward]

I'm a big fan of what I like to call Celtic gardening. The point of it is to use nature to fight nature. I first ran into this back in 1980, a friend and his wife had planted anti-bug plants around the vegetables and it appeared to be working without any chemicals.
Some natural pest-repelling plants

• Marigolds: Repel nematodes, aphids, and beetles.
• Basil: Protects tomatoes from hornworms and whiteflies.
• Mint/Lavender/Rosemary: Strong scents deter pests; Rosemary specifically repels slugs.
• Garlic/Onions: Deter aphids and spider mites.
• Catnip: Repels flea beetles, ants, and aphids

You plant these between and around the vegetables.
For the deer it helps to plant strong scents and bitter plants at the borders of your property, and I have found that bells on strings can work wonders, but only if you move it around. They get used to every type of deterrent pretty fast. So, lavender, sage, lamb's ear, barberry, marigolds, lavender, catmint, peonies, boxwood, juniper.
I have moved to the desert, and the well water is toxic, so I will not be gardening anytime soon. No pictures to share. But, along that subject, the ground can be pretty toxic in many places, and many plants love to suck up all the horrible heavy metals and other toxins, like sunflowers. To remediate, you plant sunflowers in a thick crop across the entire area and then harvest and put them in a special toxic waste trash, which varies from State to State and by Country. You can also, of course, create special planters with fresh soil from a good company that actually makes sure that dirt is clean and safe to use. In my many years of gardening, the worst problem aside from critters was the crazy weather, so having some control over the amount of sun, moisture, and temperatures can go a long way to success.

 

[SaraSunshine]

I'm a big fan of what I like to call Celtic gardening. The point of it is to use nature to fight nature. I first ran into this back in 1980, a friend and his wife had planted anti-bug plants around the vegetables and it appeared to be working without any chemicals.
Some natural pest-repelling plants

• Marigolds: Repel nematodes, aphids, and beetles.
• Basil: Protects tomatoes from hornworms and whiteflies.
• Mint/Lavender/Rosemary: Strong scents deter pests; Rosemary specifically repels slugs.
• Garlic/Onions: Deter aphids and spider mites.
• Catnip: Repels flea beetles, ants, and aphids

You plant these between and around the vegetables.
For the deer it helps to plant strong scents and bitter plants at the borders of your property, and I have found that bells on strings can work wonders, but only if you move it around. They get used to every type of deterrent pretty fast. So, lavender, sage, lamb's ear, barberry, marigolds, lavender, catmint, peonies, boxwood, juniper.
I have moved to the desert, and the well water is toxic, so I will not be gardening anytime soon. No pictures to share. But, along that subject, the ground can be pretty toxic in many places, and many plants love to suck up all the horrible heavy metals and other toxins, like sunflowers. To remediate, you plant sunflowers in a thick crop across the entire area and then harvest and put them in a special toxic waste trash, which varies from State to State and by Country. You can also, of course, create special planters with fresh soil from a good company that actually makes sure that dirt is clean and safe to use. In my many years of gardening, the worst problem aside from critters was the crazy weather, so having some control over the amount of sun, moisture, and temperatures can go a long way to success.

Thank you so much! We are building a fence for the deer around the garden, and to keep (future) chickens out.