Ornamental and useful plants: A Origanum marjoram (marjoram); B Anethum graveolens (dill); C Ocimum basilicum (basil); D Satureja montana (winter savory); E Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon); F, G, H Thymus varieties (thyme); I Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum (Italian parsley); J Nepeta cataria (catnip); K Origanum vulgare (oregano).

 

Plants have always played an essential role in our lives—providing food and often shelter, not to mention the fact that they produce the very air we breathe. Among the important plants to humans, herbs and spices have always been held in high regard. Until the nineteenth century, spices were used to preserve food, and herbs were our primary sources of medicines. So, the herb garden was considered as essential as the food garden.

When a country sent out ships to find and colonize “new” lands, one of the first tasks upon arrival was to set up a test garden. Botanical gardens were originally organized plots for growing collected plants. These herb and food gardens were set up for research and development with formal rows and beds. The formality of a botanical garden, or a “physic”—referring to the science of healing—can be seen today at the Chelsea Physic Garden, which was founded in London in 1673 as the Apothecaries’ Garden. The purpose was to train apprentices in identifying and disseminating plants. By the 1700s the garden had initiated an international seed exchange, which continues to this day.

The convention of the formal layout for an herb garden endures in public and private plantings. Herb gardens are most often made up of geometric beds enclosed by low hedges of clipped woody fragrant shrubs and sub-shrubs like lavender, germander (Teucrium), or boxwood. This plan is very much like the early monastery gardens, which often had four or more square beds—usually made around a central water source like a well— and cruciform paths.

I do not have a formal herb garden. I grow herbs as if they were simply ornamental plants, especially in my gravel garden. There, I can find culinary, medicinal, and fragrant herbs like lavender, several thyme varieties, sage, foxglove, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), bee balm (Monarda varieties), oregano, marjoram, and dianthus (pinks). Woody plants include willow, ginkgo, cut-leaf chaste tree (Vitex negundo ‘Laciniata’), Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), grapes, elderberry, and roses. Annuals include basil and cilantro.

I grow mints in containers, because they are aggressive runners. I have peppermint, spearmint (‘Kentucky Colonel’), and a few glaucous blue-green mountain mints (Pycnanthemum ssp.) with a strong menthol fragrance—released when the leaves are crushed. Mint relatives like lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) are also best kept in check, and grown in pots.

Rampant mint should be planted in a restricted area.