Companion planting is an effective way to protect plants from the unwanted effects of pests and diseases. Many herbs are useful for this purpose, including basil, lavender, rosemary, rue, thyme, chives and garlic.
Some low growing herbs have very small leaves and flowers, thus picking them separately would be an extremely laborious task. These herbs therefore are dried whole, including the stem.
The aim in drying herbs is to remove the water content only, thus changing them as little as possible.
The old way was to hung the bunches of the herbs upside down
The elder (Sambucus nigra) is a familiar small tree or shrub with large, flat-topped cluster of beatifully scented creamy-white flowers.
Herbs have been valued for their medicinal and cosmetic properties for centuries. In more recent times, the artifices of modern science made these uses seem outmoded for a while.
Herbal plants grow in any normal garden soil , which should ideally be a balanced mixture of clay, humus, lime and sand.
It is important when buying herb seed to get the correct variety and follow the growing instructions on the packet. All annual herbs are grown from seed and many of the perennial plants also can be started in the same way.
A visit to the local herb nursery or garden centre is worth wile when starting a new herb garden . Container-grown herb plants, especially perennials, can be purchased and out almost any time of the year. provided the ground id free of frost.
