"A few years ago people were only interested in parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme," says Gerry Channer, "but now there's a much greater interest -- valerian, epazote, echinacea, St. John's wort."
More and more, people are planting herbs for aromatherapy, alternative-health and culinary uses, as well as for their beauty. This burgeoning enthusiasm for herbs is shown by the thousands of visitors yearly to the 0.8-hectare Herb Garden, part of the farm that Gerry and his wife, Sharon, own near Ottawa. People come to buy plants, attend workshops and the annual Herbfest or just to inspect, sniff and taste about 250 organically grown varieties.
For the Channers it all started in 1993 when they created a large formal herb garden in one corner of an old hay field. Next came a series of long, parallel beds, each devoted to several varieties of a single herb. "Research plots," laughs Gerry, an agronomist. "I like straight edges."
Then, says Sharon, a home economist, "We decided we really had to loosen up a bit." They loosened up with the circular Solar Flair bed full of yellow blooming herbs, the crescent-shaped Moonlight Sonata bed of silver-leafed herbs and a candy-cane-shaped bed planted with mint.
But their formal garden remains the most impressive. It is large (6.7 square metres) and, in the historical manner, symmetrical and divided into quadrants. Separating the quadrants, 1.2-metre-wide paths converge at a central birdbath. Low hedges border each quadrant. In milder climates, boxwood or santolina hedges are used, but the Channers use hedge hyssop (Gratiola officinalis, which is highly toxic), Hyssopus officinalis and chives (Allium schoenoprasum), all winter hardy, at their Zone 4B site (with winter temperatures as low as -35C). In the even harsher Zone 2 herb garden in the Devonian Botanic Garden near Edmonton, pygmy caragana is used.
Comment reported
Thank you for reporting this comment as inappropriate.
Back to Comments »