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Forage & Grow Food & Remedies

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September 15, 2015

7 Herbal Remedies to Grow in Your Yard

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Last Updated on August 6, 2023

With a little know-how, you can have a pharmacopeia growing just outside your door. Here are some easy herbal remedies that may already be growing in your yard.pin with title text and photo of red cloverIt’s been amazing as I’ve dug more deeply into natural medicine and wild plants to discover how many things are growing in my yard that have incredibly useful properties. Some I’ve planted, but many are “weeds,” plants most people don’t realize are useful that turn out to be potent natural remedies for all kinds of ailments.

Check out these herbal remedies that may be growing in YOUR yard right now!

TOP HERBAL REMEDIES TO GROW IN YOUR GARDEN

1. Herbal Remedies from the Garden: Lemon Balm

Trouble sleeping? Try lemon balm tea. I stumbled across a mention of this soothing brew at the beginning of the season, and am now encouraging new lemon balm volunteers all over my yard to keep me in tea. Lemon balm is thought to promote sleep by alleviating anxiety and encouraging relaxation.

(It’s also an antiviral and may help headaches and other ailments. And rubbed on your skin, it’s supposed to help keep insects at bay, though I haven’t had much luck with this). Lots more on uses for lemon balm in this post.

To make sleep-promoting tea, I collect a small bowl of fresh leaves and steep them in a large teapot of boiling filtered water. (Read why you want to filter your water here.) This makes enough for two large mugs (or two nights’ worth of tea). I drink a mug a couple hours before bed, and it seems to help me sleep more soundly.

The farm I belong to grows it, too, so I’ve been harvesting some there as well and drying it for winter. Lemon balm is a less aggressive member of the mint family, so it will spread some, but it is far easier to eradicate if you want to (though I don’t know why you would). It’s a perennial, so plant some now and enjoy it for years.  You can probably find someone near you willing to give you a little starter clump.

Related: How to Get Free Plants

2. Herbal Remedies from the Garden: Mint

Mint is a well-known tea ingredient for soothing upset stomachs. In addition to common mint, there are some beautiful and unusual varieties to try, including apple mint, ginger mint, and pineapple mint (though I have found them less reliably hardy in our extreme winters than the standard peppermint and common mint, also less aggressive spreaders).

Again, it shouldn’t be hard to find someone growing mint who would be happy to give you starter plants.  But be careful — mint will try to take over, so plant somewhere you don’t mind it outcompeting everything else or plant it in a buried container.

Mint is one of many herbs that grow in shade if you have a shadier garden.

3. Herbal Remedies from the Garden: Lavender

Lavender is a gorgeous landscape plant with flowers that can be used in tea, cooking, or as fragrant additions to a relaxing bath or sachet. The scent has been shown to improve sleep quality, so keep a little bouquet or dish of dried lavender by your bedside, and you may find you sleep better.

A number of common weeds also have medicinal uses. What a great excuse not to spend your free time weeding (like you needed one)!

4. Natural Remedies to Grow: Jewelweed

Jewelweed can help with insect bites, so we let ours run rampant along the side of the house and grab some when kids get those sad red welts in mosquito and gnat season. Just squeeze some liquid from the succulent stem and apply to the bite repeatedly for about 15 minutes. Here are additional home remedies for bug bites. Jewelweed can also help with poison ivy and other skin irritations. (More info here.)

5. Natural Remedies to Grow: Plantain

Plantain can also be made into a poultice to help with insect bites and skin irritations. It’s also edible, but not that delicious (here are edible weeds more worth exploring). Plantain’s leaves have demulcent properties, though, so it’s often recommended as an herbal remedy for cough.

Related: Spruce Tea ~ A Delicious Way to Fight Colds

6. Herbal Remedies from the Garden: Yarrow

Yarrow can be used topically or made into tea that may help with digestive issues and cramps. (Note that its ability to relax muscles may be a problem in pregnancy, so skip it if you are pregnant. Also avoid it if you have ragweed allergies.)

Yarrow’s native in much of the country and is a drought-tolerant hardy perennial that supports pollinators. You might find volunteers in your yard, or if not, you probably have a neighbor who will be happy to divide some for you. Here’s more on the benefits and uses of yarrow.

7. Natural Remedies to Grow: Red Clover

Clover flowers can be made into a tea thought to help with circulation as well as respiratory and skin problems. It is also a source of isoflavones, and research suggests it may help with menopause symptoms. Clover is also a wonderful nitrogen-fixer for your soil, so encourage it wherever you find it and skip the fertilizer.

Lower-growing white and micro clovers work as living mulches and are often recommended in companion planting. Try clover as an elderberry companion plant. White clover has medicinal properties as well. Here’s what to know about edible clover.

Other Herbal Remedies to Grow in Your Garden

♦ The humble dandelion is a wonderfully useful herbal remedy. Here are 35+ Uses for Dandelions.

Borage is a fantastic cooling herb that’s great to have on hand for summer drinks. Learn about borage plant and how to make borage tea.

♦  Cleavers is a popular spring tonic, great for moving sluggish lymph, treating skin issues, and more. Here’s more about using cleavers plant.

♦  You can brew a lovely and medicinal tea from pine needles. Here’s what to know about how to make pine needle tea.

♦  Even creeping Charlie has some excellent medicinal properties worth knowing about. Here’s more about uses for creeping Charlie.

♦  If you want to forage or grow an especially delicious herbal remedy, try elderberries and elderflowers. Growing elderberry isn’t difficult, and then you’ll have ample ingredients for elderberry tea, homemade elderberry syrup, and so many other uses for elderberry. Here are the best elderberry varieties to consider for different regions and growing conditions.

If you need more inspiration for medicinal plants to add to your garden, check out this post on starting a medicinal herb garden.

Want to know more about useful plants even a newbie gardener can grow? Check out my free quickstart guide, Get Growing!, which tells you what you need to know to start growing some of your own food right away.

If you really want to dive into making natural remedies from wild plants, invest in a good field guide. Here are some of the best foraging books I’ve found.

Pin to save these homegrown all natural remedies for later!

pin with title text and photos of plantian, jewelweed, red clover, and yarrow

References

Lemon balm, WebMD

Wildman Steve Brill

University of Maryland Medical Center (though sadly they’ve taken down their alternative medicine database since this post published)

Photo credits: Andrea_44, Dana,  Benet, NY State IPM program, Mike, via Flickr

Shot with book compressed
Susannah

Susannah is a proud garden geek and energy nerd who loves healthy food and natural remedies. Her work has appeared in Mother Earth Living, Ensia, Northern Gardener, Sierra, and on numerous websites. Her first book, Everything Elderberry, released in September 2020 and has been a #1 new release in holistic medicine, naturopathy, herb gardening, and other categories. Find out more and grab your copy here.

Filed Under: Gardening, Health & Natural Remedies Tagged With: herbal remedies, medicinal herbs

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Comments

  1. Cassi says

    April 25, 2016 at 10:20 am

    I’m always experimenting in the garden but can’t seem to keep the weeds at bay. Apparently one of them is the jewelweed….OK for the grass but stay away from my veggies! LOL

    Reply
  2. Angela Campos says

    April 28, 2016 at 9:04 am

    This is such a great post! I love trying herbal remedies for different ailments. I appreciate the info. Pinned.

    Reply
  3. Elaine Matthews says

    May 25, 2016 at 9:56 am

    Wow!! I didn’t know all of that!! Great tips…going to look into the Lemon Balm to help me turn off my brain at night! 🙂 Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! Hope to see you again tomorrow!! Pinned!

    Reply
    • healthygreensavvy says

      May 25, 2016 at 10:39 am

      Thanks for stopping by, Elaine. If you have sleep issues, you may want to check out my post on what to eat for better sleep, which includes some tips on herbals and oils as well. Here’s link: https://www.healthygreensavvy.com/what-to-eat-for-better-sleep/

      Sweet dreams!

      Reply
  4. Kris M. says

    May 31, 2016 at 2:28 am

    Thanks for the post. I love that it’s so comprehensive and that I can find all these around my own place. I’ve included it in my link love post for this month.

    Reply
  5. Debbie Rodrigues says

    July 14, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    Lovely list.
    I grew up with natural remedies my grandma prepared for me and I still avoid OTCs.
    Thank you for sharing this list.

    Reply
    • Susannah says

      July 14, 2016 at 4:50 pm

      Cool! What kind of remedies did she make?

      Reply
  6. Marla says

    July 15, 2016 at 11:03 am

    Hi Susannah,
    You always have such great and informative article and I always love reading them. These natural remedies are so important to living green and actually most of the time much more effective than store bought. I appreciate you sharing your valuable post on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted!.

    Reply
  7. Alicia Owen says

    July 15, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    So glad I read this! I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping this week and our lemon balm plant seems to be doing well enough to pick some leaves off for a cup o’ tea tonight. 😉 I always wondered what that jewelweed stuff was called. Plantain is my absolute favorite! I made a big batch of salve from some a few years ago and we are still using it. It works better than any store bought antibacterial cream for cuts, burns, etc. Seriously!

    Reply
  8. Cristina Mandeville says

    July 20, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Hi Susannah, Thank you for linking up over at Healthy Living Link Party! You are our MOST CLICKED featured post. Hope to see you again and Pinned!

    Reply
    • Susannah says

      July 20, 2016 at 3:37 pm

      Thanks, Cristina — that’s great news! Much appreciated, and thanks for hosting a terrific party!

      Reply
  9. Barbara says

    July 20, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    This is a great post, Susannah! I’m pinning this to share and keep for later. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Susannah says

      July 20, 2016 at 11:16 pm

      Thanks so much, Barbara! Delighted you enjoyed it.

      Reply
  10. Anna@greentalk says

    August 14, 2016 at 2:55 pm

    Great post. I grow a ton of mint which are all out of control especially the apple mint. Even lemon balm shows up where it shouldn’t but not as aggressive. I wish it retained its smell longer after it dries.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Can't Beat 'Em? Eat 'Em! Edible Weeds - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    March 16, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    […] and quinoa, and plantain, one of several “weeds” and weed-like plants that are excellent additions to your home remedy arsenal. Though it doesn’t grow in my region, kudzu (the weed that ate the south) is also edible. If […]

    Reply
  2. 5 Ways to Grow Food Without a Garden - TheHippyHomemaker says:
    April 6, 2016 at 9:36 am

    […] that produce honeyberries, raspberries, and gooseberries, as well as grapes, strawberries, rhubarb, lemon balm, and numerous other herbs and edible flowers (including some considered weeds that are quite tasty […]

    Reply
  3. Loving Herbs, Healing and Other Views - Thyme To Embrace Herbs says:
    May 30, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    […] just grow wild. Susannah Shmurak over at Healthy, Green, Savvy  has some great information in her 7 Remedies From Your Yard.  She suggests that people battling sleeplessness should try some lemon balm tea.  An interesting […]

    Reply
  4. Great Green Finds: DIY Bug Spray, Coconut Milk, and More Inspiring Ideas from Green Bloggers - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    July 5, 2016 at 11:56 am

    […] but an evil bug got in and mushed most of them. We’ll be looking into deterrents next year. The lemon balm is going strong, so I enjoy a little stroll through the yard to harvest my favorite sleepytime tea […]

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  5. Healthy Living Link Party #72 | Easy Peasy Life Matters says:
    July 20, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    […] 7 Remedies From Your Yard by Healthy Green Savvy! […]

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  6. Great Green Finds: Natural Remedies, Free Food, and More Goodies from the Blogosphere - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    August 25, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    […] got my first nibbles of early edibles like chives, my lemon balm is ready for daily harvest, and rhubarb is big and ready for our annual round of leather- and […]

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  7. Food Preservation for Beginners - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    September 26, 2016 at 7:30 am

    […] save a lot over buying fresh herbs from the store. You can also collect herbs for homemade tea like lemon balm and […]

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  8. Lemon Balm ~ An Herb Worth Knowing and Growing - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    June 5, 2017 at 11:31 pm

    […] There are probably some other useful plants growing in your  yard right now! Check out this post to learn about finding home remedies from your […]

    Reply
  9. Yarrow Uses ~ Why to Know & Grow this Amazing Medicinal Plant - HealthyGreenSavvy says:
    April 11, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    […] Related: 6 Other Natural Remedies You can Find in Your Yard […]

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  10. Plantain Herb Benefits and Uses from a Pesky Weed! | Whole New Mom says:
    May 21, 2018 at 9:19 am

    […] skill. Want to know more about healing plants you might already be growing in your yard? Check out some of these useful remedies to get you […]

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Hi, I'm Susannah, a garden geek, energy nerd, and fan of healthy food and natural remedies. Need some simple, practical solutions for living healthier and greener? You've come to the right place! More about me and my green projects here.

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