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Herb gardening has been around for centuries and the joys of an herbal garden is well know to many gardeners. Even beginner gardeners can have a high quality of success by starting with the basics and working their way up to a more complicated herbal garden. You can plant a container herb garden or an indoor herb garden. There are three categories of herbs that can be grown in you herbal gardens, culinary herbs, ornamental herbs, or medicinal herbs.

Culinary herb gardening’s purpose is to add spice and flavor to your cooking. Culinary herbs are the herbs that use fresh or dried leaves in cooking. Some of the classic culinary herbs are parsley, oregano, rosemary and basil. You may even want to plant some sage and thyme. There is a difference between herbs and spices. Spices are seeds, roots, fruits, flowers, and bark while, as mentioned above, culinary herbs are fresh or dried leaves.

When considering your culinary herb garden your most important decision is the location. You will need a sunny spot with at least six hours of sun. The more sun the herb garden gets the more flavor will develop in the herbs. Try to place your culinary herb garden as close to the kitchen door as possible. This will ensure that the herbs will be used daily.

A simple and delicious way to use basil is to slice some juicy ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Overlap them on a plate, sprinkle on some extra virgin olive oil and chopped basil. It is also good with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Anyone that has grown a culinary herb garden and used the fresh herbs will tell you that the fresh herbs are superior over the dried herbs.

Ornamental herb gardening can make your gardens not only practical but beautiful too. By “ornamental” we mean that the primary current usage is purely decorative. Some of these ornamental herbs have a long history of medicinal or culinary usage. Pots of ornamental herbs add color and texture to balconies or patios. They are perfect for lining your flower beds.

A good example of an ornamental herb is Dittany of Crete, a favorite oregano herb of many herb gardeners. It will form a low mound and produce leaves with fine silvery hairs. You would never want to use this in cooking, it is strictly for show.

Rue is another good choice for garden borders. Its unusual blue green color offers contrast to bright showy blooms. The rue leaves can be used as a garnish but because of its bitter flavor does not work in cooking.

Ornamental herbs are just what they say, ornaments for your gardens. Ornamental herb gardening will add texture and interest to your flower beds.

Now we come to medicinal herbs. Before the 1900’s medicinal herbs were used widely in the United States. Somewhere in the 1960’s herbs used as medicine dwindled. Now, many doctors are prescribing medicinal herbs as well as mainstream medicine.

There are three ways that the medicinal herbs work on the body. Medicinal herbs have been known to strengthen an organ so that it can heal itself. Some medicinal herbs purge the body of toxins and illness, while others build up the immune system which will help in retarding illness.

There are many ways to use medicinal herbs. A few are infusions, herb vinegars, ointments, teas and tinctures. For example, to make a healing herbal tea, boil water and pour over the fresh herbs in a cup. Let it steep for 5 minutes but no longer then 10 for it will get bitter.

The medicinal herb stevia can be used as a natural sweetener and is easy to grow in an herbal garden. It also decrease tooth decay and gum disease if used as a mouth wash.

Before starting any course of medicinal herbs, be sure to notify your Doctor to see if they will interact with any medicines you are currently taking.

These are some of the basics of the three herb groups. Plan your herb garden, pick a bright sunny place and plant your herbs. Remember you can plant an herb garden in the ground, as a container garden or an indoor herb garden.

Happy Gardening!
Article Source: http://www.articlegarden.com/

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. Visit her websites www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com, and www.GardeningHerb.com

Many of us enjoy the sounds of birds singing and chirping in our gardens or yards. Not only are birds beautiful to look at, they also provide many with a real appreciation of nature. There are clearly many benefits associated with attracting birds to the landscape, however in order to experience these benefits, we first need to attract the birds to our gardens! It is quite easy to attract birds to your property by following a few simple design principles, and by choosing plants for your landscape that naturally attract birds.

Birdfeeders are old staples for those who wish to see birds in their yards. When using feeders, they should be placed conveniently, and they should also be large enough to hold two to three days worth of food. Placing birdfeeders in various parts of the garden can be a great help in attracting more birds into your landscape. However, the birdfeeders should serve as supplements to the various plants in your yard that provide food and shelter to encourage the birds to think of your garden or yard as home.

The first thing to remember when designing a landscape to attract birds is that your design should provide shelter to protect birds from the elements or from predators. Evergreens are great in this role, as they often provide plenty of space for a bird to disappear crawl into, but they are very difficult for predators to penetrate. Additionally, they can be thick enough to provide adequate shelter against the elements. Evergreen trees and bushes, moreover, can look both attractive and appropriate with just about any home. They are also fairly hardy and easy to take care of. In general the type of plants that provide good shelter to birds include other woody plants. Features like decks and birdhouses also provide great places for birds to shelter.

The next thing that should be done in designing your landscape to attract birds is to provide plants that offer a consistent food supply. These plantings should offer a great deal of food, and produce enough food to meet the bird’s needs, with the help or addition of birdfeeders. In addition, there should be a variety of plants that offer seeds and fruits at various times so that the food supply lasts for an extended period of time. Holly plants (if you use blue holly, you will need both a blue boy and a blue girl in order for there to be any berries), crabapple trees, sunflowers, and other plants that produce berries and seed are excellent choices. Many of these plants are very attractive and can be made to look good in any design, alongside being an excellent source of food for our winged friends.

Another landscape principle to keep in mind while selecting plants that attract birds is to select plants that attract insects. Most scented flowers attract insects, and this means that your yard will attract birds that eat insects. Not only are there many beautiful flowers, like the roses, that attract insects, but these also in turn smell very pleasant. You can have a fragrant garden or yard, as well as one that is really attractive to the birds. Among your choices for insect-attracting flowers, choose some that bloom during the spring migration periods. Then you will be sure to get birds on their way through town, headed north.

Finally, there are landscape features that are not plant-related. These features, other than birdfeeders and birdhouses, can also mean the difference between a garden or yard bursting with birdsong and one that is depressingly quiet. These features are water features. Birds like to have places where they can bathe and drink. There is no need for a big water feature; a small birdbath or basin is often more than sufficient. Birds do prefer moving water, so small features that circulate water, or even water in gently sloping basins or troughs can be very attractive to birds.

It does not need to cost a lot of extra money to attract birds to your landscape. There are plenty of discount stores that offer greaat birdhouses, feeders, and water features at low costs.

Birds do not require anything really special. For the most, part you just need to keep them in mind if you want them to be part of your landscape. Much of the time attractive plants and features that you would have been likely to have purchased anyway can be incorporated to make your landscape more pleasing to the ear.

Article Source: Organic Garden Articles

Paul Duxbury writes extensively on Garden Care. You can read more of his articles at Garden Care and Landscaping