7 Herbal Remedies to Grow in Your Yard

Last Updated on February 14, 2024

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.

It’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.

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.

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!

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