Varied, fragrant, colorful, and often healing herbal teas are a special treat for every gardener. Fragrant tea rose petals, refreshing mint leaves, playful lemon balm are so seductive that it is almost impossible not to make a special tea from them in summer. For those who love original drinks and self-made herbal preparations, there are specially created "tea" flower beds and rabatki - small garden compositions in which plants are planted that can become the main star of tea drinking in their garden.

Choosing a place in the garden for a "tea" flower garden

The fashion for "tea" flower beds came to us, surprisingly, not at all from England. Special flowerbeds of useful plants became popular along with Scandinavian design, but this idea quickly won the hearts of landscapers. At exhibitions, fairs and garden shows all over the world, different variations of tea beds have become almost obligatory participants. Breaking up in your garden a small ensemble of plants whose leaves, flowers, twigs or roots can be used for herbal teas is a special pleasure. Such a flower garden will surely attract a lot of honey plants and butterflies, because such perennials are favorites not only of the gardeners themselves.

A tea bed can be broken in any corner of the garden. It should be a mini-flower garden - large, pompous flower beds are best left either for a classic design or for a mix design. Neat, rounded, oval or square flower beds, where it is easy to reach even the plants in the middle, are ideal. It is better to surround a tea flower garden with a decorative border. A neat low wattle fence or a fence, a decorative ribbon, a clinker border - it is better to choose warm, cozy design options that are in harmony with the design style of your garden.

If you are just experimenting, then you can create a portable flower garden - in a large flower bed, an old trough, a large portable container, and you should switch to stationary tea beds after your first "test".

The main thing to take care of is the choice of a warm, protected area and a place where it is convenient to approach the plants. Very often, a “tea” flower bed is placed on a lawn, near a terrace or on a terrace (like a flower garden interspersed), near the house, replacing plantings at the foundation or near the recreation area. It is logical to create a "tea" flower garden where it is convenient to collect fragrant material for brewing tea - not far from places of tea drinking or at home.

If you are just experimenting, then you can create a portable flower garden - in a large flower bed, an old trough, a large portable container, etc. © Namiki Herb Garden Journal

General rules for the design of "tea" flower beds

In the design of "tea" flower beds adhere to the general rules:

• plants for regular gardens are strictly ranked, and for landscape gardens they slightly shift the emphasis and mix cultures with each other to achieve the effect of wild charm;
• the structure of the flower garden can be made more interesting by dividing into sections, introducing a pattern or bright signs, through multi-level solutions;
• cultures are selected according to preferences for the same conditions and plant care, or they select a place so that part of the flower garden is in the shade, and part enjoys the bright sun;
• plants should contrast with each other in terms of the type of flowering, the structure of the inflorescences or the size of the flowers, the type and nature of the growth of greenery;
• the soil for planting is prepared in advance by digging the soil deep, applying high-quality organic fertilizers and adjusting the soil reaction to neutral, and its structure to loose and breathable, but quite moisture-intensive.

One of the most important principles for making "tea" beds: the plants that are going to be used for making drinks should be chosen carefully, carefully analyzing their medicinal properties. Each, even the most modest culture used for herbal teas, has a whole range of properties and is also used in medicinal preparations.

When choosing plants, it is worth checking whether they have a tonic or calming effect, the basic principles of their effect on the body. Be sure to take into account the state of health, especially chronic diseases, when compiling a tea flower garden. After all, despite the aroma, beauty and variety, herbal teas are not a completely harmless occupation for experiments. In some cases, about plants whose influence you doubt, it is better to consult a doctor and a herbalist. Before using plants for tea for the first time, it is worth checking the individual reaction to their decoctions.

A tea bed can be broken in any corner of the garden. © anisrav

Stars of the "tea" flower bed

Usually, at the mention of tea flower gardens, flowerbeds of mint and lemon balm immediately come to mind. But the range of species for such fragrant, interesting and functional flower beds is not limited to unpretentious and standard herbs. There is a place in the tea flower garden and berry bushes, and plants from the category of flowering stars, and even the inhabitants of ordinary beds.

Of the shrubs on the "tea" flower garden, you can settle species that are most often used for tea collections - tea rose, "false jasmine" mock orange, Japanese quince, black currant, raspberry. For interesting fruit teas, you can also use the fruits of fruit trees: columnar miniature trees, including apple or cherry trees, can be planted in the very center of the flower garden or in the background, creating spectacular and beautiful accents there.

Rosehips can also be included in the number of tea plants, however, bushes that produce a large number of fruits can rarely boast of compact dimensions. Both dwarf trees and shrubs play the role of a visual peak of the composition. They are placed not only so as to give the flowerbed of tea plants the most interesting relief, but also taking into account the necessary care, including annual pruning and rejuvenation: berry and fruit bushes, ornamental plants need free access. Therefore, placing them in the center of the tea flower garden is impractical.

If the garden has a separately growing bush or an old plant that they plan to radically rejuvenate - for example, a currant or rose bush, then you can set up a flower garden around it.

There is a place on the "tea" flower bed and another berry plant - strawberries.

Herbaceous perennials and spicy herbs offer you to choose flowering plants (and not only) according to your taste and your favorite aromas. Some of the best crops for "tea" flower beds include:

• mint, including curly, ordinary and peppermint, fragrant, bright, sprawling aggressively, but very beautiful with sufficient soil moisture;
• lemon balm, which preserves beauty in almost any circumstances, with its impeccable leaf shape, bright, almost light green color, as well as lemon or cat catnip, which is very similar to it, which is often sold with us under the guise of lemon balm;
• dazzlingly bright, amazingly hardy and pleasantly standing out against any background lofant - Korean mint, agastakhis;
• sage - ordinary and self-seeding annual nutmeg every year;
• unique silver-carved and slightly dangerous fragrant rue;
• sloppy, but very elegant during flowering, pharmacy or ordinary chamomile, which, in the company of denser plants, seems weightless;
• thyme or thyme, different varieties of which differ in shade of aroma and color of greenery, shape and density of bushes;
• valuable not only for its fragrant inflorescences similar to fireworks, lemon monard;
• spectacular, hardy and fashionable fragrant echinacea;
• narrow-leaved lavender with its neat inflorescences and unique leaves.

There are also plants "for an amateur" - fragrant fennel, whose light lilac inflorescences-umbrellas surprise with a completely different shade of aroma than anise leaves, as well as cilantro, chicory, in which roots are added to tea, St. John's wort, hyssop, lemon verbena, oregano, Ivan tea, fireweed, tansy, fragrant bedstraw, basils, amaranth, rosemary, marigolds, cornflowers, marjoram, felted pelargonium, snakehead. And some manage to grow even fragrant cinquefoil and calamus on an ordinary "tea" flower bed.

We bring to your attention schemes of flower beds from herbs. These are not just flower beds - this is a collection of spicy and fragrant tea plants, they can be a great addition to your table as a condiment.

Beautiful and useful: herb flower beds

Flower garden scheme No. 1

This is a set of spices. The most necessary plants that most hostesses use on a daily basis are collected. And they combine perfectly in a flower bed - not only a useful flower bed, but also a beautiful one. Such a flower bed can be organized even in the smallest areas near the house.

Scheme of a spicy flower garden No. 2

This flower bed contains only the most necessary spices and herbs. A distinctive feature of this flower bed is its simplicity. A small set of plants allows you to keep only the most necessary and popular herbs in your family. And not just plant them in a random order - but form a beautiful flower bed out of them near the house.

Scheme of a flower garden of herbs No. 3

Another great spice flower garden scheme for your attention. The main spicy herbs are selected and arranged in the most optimal way - just for a small flower bed near your house.

Scheme No. 4

Using this scheme, you can easily form a cool flower bed from plants that are usually used to make aromatic and vitamin teas: mint, thyme, monarda (it smells like bergamot), strawberries. The queen of this flower bed can be called purple echinacea. Everything is thought out - an ideal flower bed for every family.

It is enough to choose a sunny place and you can grow herbs for the kitchen in a beautiful flower bed. You can create your own flower bed with your own hands or you can be guided by our advice.

A flower bed in the form of a snail has a more or less decorative function, since herbs of different colors can be planted in a curl. When the herbs grow, this corner will become a source of vitamins and a place that pleases the eye. Honey herbs will also attract bees, and butterflies love to bask on the stones.

natural stone looks natural .

The corner can be effectively limited by stones. One of the simplest shapes you can choose for a flower bed is a circle. For ease of care for herbs, a circle with a diameter of approximately 1 m is recommended.

In the middle of the future flower bed we will stick a peg with a rope at one end. Tie a stick to the other end of the rope. With its help, draw a circle on the ground and dig a hole in this circle. Then we will begin to put stones in this hole so that they fit as best as possible.

In the center of the circle we will make a hill, which we will also overlay with stones. You can bind them with a solution, but without a solution, you can always disassemble the stones or replace and fix them.

You can also use cubes for paving.

If paving stones are better suited for your site - a chipped stone in the shape of a cube, you can work with it. And again, it is better without mortar. For an approximately one-meter "snail" we will require about three quarters of a m3 of crushed stone.

From the area where you will make a flower bed, remove a layer of soil so that the first row of cubes is in the ground. Then, right on the ground, draw the shape of the future "snail" and lay out the first row of cubes along the contour. We will put the second row on it so that the stones sit as tightly as possible.

Closer to the center, we will raise the stone fence to make the flower bed look even more plastic. At the beginning of the curl, we put two rows of stones, and closer to the middle, increase the height by 3 and 4 rows, as you like. Use the fact that the stones are not all the same height. Fill the finished "snail" with a quality substrate or compost and fill it well with water.

We will plant plants in the finished flower bed. It is advisable to alternate colors: variegated thyme, for example, planted with green rosemary and purple sage next to it. Watering requirements of plants should be taken into account. For example, plant lavender in the middle of the driest place. When watering, water flows down to the stone sides, plant basil, parsley and chives there - these plants require more water.

Don't forget to name the plants.

In order for you to send anyone for fresh sprigs of grass, you should mark them with signs. After all, not everyone is familiar with herbs, but with tablets, everyone will find what they need. Including children.

Plant grass near the finished flower bed. Just planted plants do not forget to water and weed. Perennial species will survive without a problem until the next season.

And a few more cloves for the seed)

As soon as I had a house in the countryside, I embarked on experiments with my head, deciding to plant a medicinal bed of aromatic herbs along with vegetables and berries. Firstly, any plant grown with your own hands brings joy, and secondly, I love herbal teas in the summer heat and winter evenings. And thirdly, flowers, whether medicinal or purely decorative, are charming in any form.

The first thing I started creating my fragrant flower bed with was the selection of plants. Often seeing a great variety of herbs and flowers around, we are not even aware of their beneficial properties. For example, blue chicory flowers and yellow tansy baskets, nondescript knotweed in yards and fluffy branches of horsetail in the forest. But I needed garden herbs that could be grown on my site from purchased seeds or seedlings.

What herbs to choose?

Every novice gardener gets excited when he sees a variety of seeds in a flower shop. But it is better to dwell on the most necessary and suitable plants for your design.

Five popular medicinal herbs

Mint- perennial and very cold-resistant plant, with a height of 0.7 cm to 1 m. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate. The flowers are lilac, similar to spikelets. You can recognize it by its strong aroma, which gives it a high content of menthol. It can be added to black tea or brewed separately. This plant calms, has a beneficial effect on the heart, relieves heaviness in the stomach. It is used in cooking for baking, soft drinks and meat dishes. It sprouts well both from seeds and from shoots of an adult plant and can live in one place for up to 5 years. All she needs is fertile and moist soil and a lighted place on the site, although partial shade is also quite suitable.

Chamomile officinalis- unpretentious annual plant of the aster family. Her stem is straight, bare, 15–40 cm high. Inflorescences are in the form of baskets 1.6–2.5 cm in diameter with a pleasant smell. Chamomile contains essential oils that will help relieve nervous tension, improve sleep and digestion, it is used as an analgesic and antiallergic agent. It is better to plant chamomile in sunny places directly into the ground, but home seedlings will provide better germination.

Calendula, or marigold- unpretentious annual plant of the aster family. These bright orange flowers, collected in baskets, will bloom until the coldest. Plant height is from 30 to 50 cm. Plant flowers are used as a medicine, which contain carotenoids (enhance immunity and are natural antioxidants) and flavonoids (have the ability to reduce capillary permeability and fragility). Decoctions of calendula are used for diseases of the throat, stomatitis. You can sow calendula seeds before winter or early spring to a depth of 2 cm, at a distance of 8–10 cm. The plant prefers sunny places. Easily propagated by self-seeding.

Salvia officinalis is a perennial semi-lignified shrub of the Lamiaceae family up to 70 cm high. Its leaves are silver-green, wrinkled. Blooms in June-July. The flowers are lilac, collected in loose spikelets. The aroma of the plant is very strong, the taste is bitter-astringent. Contains a large amount of essential oils and vitamins. A decoction of sage is often used as an astringent, disinfectant for inflammatory processes in the throat. , seedlings or dividing bushes. Seeds are sown in spring or before winter to a depth of 2-3 cm. The plant prefers sunny places and does not like stagnant water.

St. John's wort- a perennial plant of the St. John's wort family. Stems are tetrahedral. Flowers solitary or in bright yellow semi-umbels. An irreplaceable medicinal plant, which, as described in folk medicine, treats 99 diseases. Its medicinal properties include: bactericidal action, wound healing, anti-inflammatory and astringent. It grows mainly in the wild, but if you plant it in the garden, it will always be at hand. This perennial is best planted in full sun. Propagated by seeds. Or you can dig it in its natural habitat along with a clod of earth and plant it on your site.

How to collect and dry herbs?

Starting from mid-June until the end of August, herbs can be collected and harvested for the winter. It is better to collect them on a sunny hot day when the dew has come down. It is at this time that they contain the greatest amount of essential oils and nutrients. It is also believed that the collection of herbs is carried out precisely on the growing moon, and their roots on the waning one, when more healing power accumulates in them. In order not to miss the optimal harvest time, you can use the lunar calendars for gardeners. In some plants, in which all the medicinal power is in the flower, as, for example, in chamomile or calendula, only flowers are harvested. Others, such as mint, cut the plant completely. And you can do this several times a season.

Starting from mid-June until the end of August, herbs can be collected and harvested for the winter. It is better to collect them on a sunny hot day, when the dew will come down.

Rules for drying herbs:

• The best place for drying herbs is a special drying room, which must be dark, dry, cool and well ventilated! Otherwise, dampness may cause fungal diseases in the form of mold. Herbs can spoil, darken and lose their healing properties. If it is not there, then a hayloft is also suitable, on which the grasses will not only dry well, but also retain their color.
• In a city apartment, plants are laid out on paper with a layer of 1–1.5 cm and turned over from time to time so that the grass dries evenly and does not rot.
• Drying time - from 1 to 5 days. It is impossible to dry the grass in the sun, as it will burn out and lose its properties, but this method is the most suitable for plant rhizomes.

Drying time - from 1 to 5 days

• Herbs can be dried out, after which they can turn into dust. Dried grass should contain no more than 12-15% moisture. And in order not to miss this moment, you can check by breaking a branch of the plant. Sufficiently dried grass does not bend, but breaks with a bang. If we check dried flowers for readiness, then they should crumble when they are lightly squeezed.
• The dried herb is placed in linen bags or glass jars with an airtight lid to protect it from moths, and stored in a cool, dry place.
• Grass, leaves and flowers are stored and usable for 2 years, fruits - 3 years, roots and bark - up to 5 years.

Medicinal herbs in the landscape

Medicinal garden with spicy plants can embody any of your ideas. Such a bed can be in the form of a square, circle,

So you want to pamper your family with delicious food! A unique aroma will be given to it not by chemical flavor substitutes, but by a variety of herbs that are easy to grow in your garden. And they are just beautiful, and they will make an unusual edible flower bed. Garden plants can be both ornamental and useful.

First of all, you should decide what you like. Someone likes tea with aromatic additives, someone likes to cook, and someone is more interested in medicinal properties. Depending on this, we will determine the set of herbs that we will plant on the site.

Mint, lemon balm, dill, coriander, tarragon, basil, celery, marjoram, thyme, parsley, rosea rhodiola ... The choice is great.

A plot for fragrant plantings has been prepared since autumn.

It is dug up and freed from weeds. During the winter, it is worth estimating the assortment of plants, the number of necessary spices, the shape of the future garden. By the way, access to a flower bed or beds with seasonings must be made open from all sides. When the earth warms up, loosen it again, remove the weeds. If necessary, add nutrient mixture to the soil and mix with a rake. Then we lay out the curb and tracks.

We try to sow taking into account the height of future plants. In the center of a garden flower bed or beds, we will place the highest ones - lovage, wormwood, tarragon. Lower compose around them.

Some of the spices would be nice to plant in pots, and as they ripen, just replace them with new ones. Heat-loving plants, such as marjoram or rosemary, are also planted in containers. When cold, they are easy to rearrange in a warm place.

spice care

Care of spicy herbs is not burdensome. They feel great on poor soils, resistant to diseases and pests. But drainage for landing must be created in advance. Do not plant them in the shade, they will stretch upwards. It is better to choose a sunny or partially shaded place. We water daily. The main problem is overgrowth. It is necessary to regularly pick off fresh greens so that the sprouts do not stretch. Try to weed out extra shoots. Otherwise, next year mint, dill or oregano will appear in the most unexpected corners of the garden.

Beautiful design ideas

Almost all spices have beautiful and dense foliage, and some form nice regular bushes. Small beds filled with fragrant plants, round, elongated, square, can decorate the site. Especially if the garden is arranged in a rural style.

We offer you some interesting ideas where and how you can plant spices. A very attractive and convenient option when everyone is planted in containers.

If you use a wagon wheel, you will get another simple and useful garden decor that will beautifully diversify your yard.

The photo above embodies the idea with plastic bottles that are mounted on a vertical board. Original and simple! Approximately the same option can be made using glass jars.

The old pallet looks nice too. We will tell you about how to make a fragrant flower bed out of it in a separate one with photos literally step by step.

Almost all herbs are easy to grow and even beginners can do. The taste and aroma of these garden plants will enrich cooked dishes, indulge in unexpected notes during tea drinking, and support the body in a long winter.