Aromatherapy Advice

First Things First – Starting Lavender The Right Way

Most lavender bushes start from a cutting taken from a Mother plants. This often works well. Growing lavender from seeds may sound like a good idea, but it can be difficult. It is hard to find the seeds, and they have a short shelf life (even if you find them, they may not grow). And it can take a long time to grow the seeds into sizeable bushes. The most difficult situation is that the most popular lavender varieties do not make seeds!

Pruning Lavender

It is important to prune lavender in order to maintaining a young, healthy bush. When pruning lavender, the key is to begin when plants are young and still in pots. Pinch out new growth to support lateral branching. Cut off the flower buds in the first year so that you will get a larger bush and more spikes in the second year.

Cut back the plant at yearly. If you prune the plant in the fall, do it well in advance of a hard freeze. You can easily use a weed eater or a hedge trimmer when pruning lavender. You can also prune the plant after it flowers I the spring or early summer. When you do prune lavender, make sure that the leaves are still green.

Cut off about 1/3 off of the plant and shape it into a mound. This encourages new growth. If you do this every year, it will make sure your plants don’t get too woody and knotty. You can begin this pruning in the second year.

If you did not prune the plant when it was young, it may not survive a significant pruning. If the bush is 3 years or older and you have never pruned it, you may be better off replacing the bush. If there is still young growth above the wood part of the plan, you can begin with a light pruning to encourage lower growth. Then, continue each year to prune a little more aggressively. But as close to the woody part – but don’t cut the wood. If you cut too much into the wood the plant will die.

Cut spent flowers to create healthy plants. Cut off dead branches in the spring, after your plant shows growth.

Lavenders types of lavender plants, like dentate, don’t require much pruning unless you want to grow them as a hedge. In these cases, the best time for pruning lavender is in the summer.

Harvesting Lavender

Cut the lavender stems which have flowers, and cut them in the early morning after the dew has dried but before the sun dries up too much of the plant’s essential oils. The essential oils create the scent, and you want to preserve them as much as possible.

You can dry lavender in bunches or on screens, and store it in a cool dark place.

After pruning lavender, you can use the pruning clippings as your harvest. Lavender is wonderful for crafts and decoration.

Interesting Notes

Plant lavender bushes in full sun and only in a soil that drains well. Water the bushes generously during the first year after planting – but do not water lavender from above – this can cause a fatal fungus!

Don’t prune into the old wood (where there are no leaves) or your lavender will not grow back in that place.

Lavender flowers and products provide soothing fragrance and relaxation. Some varieties of lavender maintain nearly their full aroma when dried. The Provence and Grosso lavender variety is has excellent fresh and dried fragrance: this is the type of lavender grown at Laura’s Lavender. Dried lavender flowers can be used in sachets or arranged in bowls for adding soothing scents to your home. Dried lavender flowers can even be used in cooking such as recipes for shortbread cookies.  Dried lavender can also be added a bubble bath to make fragrant as well as fun!

Some of the choices you have for putting to use your dried lavender flowers are discussed here:

Insect repellent – lavender is a natural insect repellent. Hang bunches near your door and on the window sill to keep insects at bay. Place a handful of dried lavender blossoms under the doormat. Dried lavender flowers can also be used under your car seats or in the trunk to keep insects away.

Lavender oil – bunches of dried lavender flowers are used to extract lavender essential oils. A good recipe for making some lavender oil at home is this: 1) Tie some dried lavender flowers together and lightly crush them; 2) Place the crushed blossoms in a jar with some olive oil and let sit in a dark place for 7-10 days; 3) Strain and discard the crushed lavender blossoms and bits, cap tightly and use the oil for cleansing, moisturizing and massaging.

Freshener – If you want to avoid sewing your own sachets, simply tie up some of the dried lavender flowers together into a loop by bending up the stems. Leave the ends free; tie the bunch with a ribbon. Hang the dried lavender bundle in your wardrobe to freshen up your clothes. A loop of dried lavender flowers can even be slipped under the seat of your car.

Sachets or pouches – for those people, who have the skill to sew, make pouches or sachets with muslin cloth and fill them up with handfuls of dried lavender flowers. Use these under your pillow to fight insomnia and dream of beautiful lavender filled fields! Hang in clothes closets and drawers to ward off moths. Dried lavender flowers have and even a stronger aroma when it is warm so place them in sunny locations around the house.

Tea – Dried lavender flowers can be added to green tea to add flavor and fragrance to your daily cuppa! Lavender tea can also be prepared and many recipes are available online.

Gift wrappings – during the holiday season or for a wedding gift, use handfuls of dried lavender buds and flowers and add them to the wrapping.  Dried lavender flower may also be spread at the bottom of the box before wrapping up the gift. Wedding/ birthday gifts can be made special by adding some dried lavender flowers in the folds of tissue papers! These could also be added to greeting cards as fragrant confetti. Not only will the soothing scent of lavender bring a smile to the recipient, it will keep the gift fragrant for weeks.

Cooking – dried lavender flowers can be used to simmer over the stove. Lavender is a member of the mint family and increases the flavor and appearance of food.  Try adding some dried lavender flowers to your salads for a fragrant flavor! English lavender is considered the sweetest and is used most commonly in cooking.

As you can see, dried lavender flowers have many uses and many more are possible with a little creativity!

Deciding to switchover to organic rose gardening can put anyone in a dilemma over which products must be used to get maximum success. One option is that you buy over the counter products available at your nearest garden and lawn outlet, the other is that you whip up few home remedies to create your dream rose garden.

Please consider the following commonly used home remedies. With the help of these solutions, your affair with organic rose gardening will become an inexpensive and easy one.

1. Getting around the problem of Aphids

A very regular problem faced by almost every rose gardener is the aphid attack. These are tiny, plump, pear shaped insects with a soft body and little tubes known as cornicles. Aphids are fond of younger plants and can be commonly seen feeding on leaves and shoots of the new plants. Aphids can be found on the undersides of the leaves and they usually feed in colonies. Once they have gained a stronghold, the leaves begin to curl around them. These small bugs can be fatal for your roses if left without any action.

A lot of gardeners put their organic rose gardening dream to early death because of these small creatures forcing them to make use of pesticides. However, one should know that the aphid problem can be countered organically with two easy remedies.

Simple Soap Remedy

Two tablespoons of flakes of soap

Two liters of lukewarm water

Put soap flakes in water and treat the infested areas directly with this solution every five-seven days. You must go easy with the soap flakes as too much of it can cause burns to the leaves of plant. This remedy also takes care of the whiteflies and the spider mites.

Spray made of Garlic Oil

Cloves (minced garlic): 10 -15 nos.

Mineral Oil: 2 tablespoons

Water: 600 millilitre

Dish Soap (Liquid): 1 tablespoon

Put Garlic into mineral oil for a period of 24 hours. Strain the garlic out of mineral oil and add 600 ml of water with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap. Mix all of these properly and spray it on your rose plants. As with Simple Soap Remedy, this also helps you get rid of whiteflies and spider mites.

2. Black Spot Remedy

Black spot is a type of fungus that often gives sleepless nights to many rose gardeners. This attacks only the roses and leaves unpleasant black spots on the rose plant leaves. Let’s look at a home-made solution commonly used by many gardeners to get rid of black spots without employing fungicides.

Home Made Solution for Black Spots and Mildew

Baking Soda: 1 tablespoon

Water: 1 liter

Soap Flakes: 1 tablespoon

Put baking soda in a liter of warm water. Mix soap flakes to help the solution to cling to the leaves. Cut the infected leaves and follow it up with spraying the top and bottom of leftover leaf surfaces to check the disease.

Bringing up your rose garden in an organic way can be a very satisfying experience as it not only helps in nurturing beautiful roses, but is also an environment friendly method. Employ these easy tips to free your roses from the day-to-day garden infections.

Spring rose care will help get your roses off to a more enjoyable blooming season. Modern roses are the longest blooming of all shrubs. Many varieties start flowering in mid-late spring, with recurrent bloom cycles through late fall. Unless you are looking to grow absolutely perfect blossoms for competitive exhibition, roses actually require much less work than you may usually read about. Carefully chosen varieties of shrub roses will – with no summer spraying – yield a full season’s bounty of blooms.

Spring Rose Care – Timing

Spring rose care should be accomplished after winterkill (if any) has become apparent, but before the new leaves unfurl. There are several ways to figure this. I’ve found it is most successful to work on the roses just as the Forsythia starts to bloom, rather than slavishly following the calendar.

Spring Rose Care – Feeding

If you hilled-up your roses with mulch last fall, the first thing you need to do is to tear down the mulch mounds and spread it around the roses so that the total mulch depth never exceeds 1 ½ inches. If you have more, remove the top layer. The first spring rose care fertilization consists of four different products, a handful of each should be sprinkled around the plant in a circle, about 12-18 inches out from the stem: Espoma Rose-Tone®, Espoma Kelp Meal®, Espoma Epson Plus and Greensand (Five additional feedings, a month apart, consist of just one handful of Rose-Tone®—nothing else Never feed after September 1st; late feeding encourages late emergence of tender growth, which will be winterkilled). Use 1/3 to 1/2 as much of all products, at all times, on miniature roses.

Spring Rose Care – Pruning

Pruning is usually considered to be the most time-consuming of all rose care tasks. Recently, a research study compared 2 beds of the same Floribunda roses. One bed was hand pruned by skilled rose growers. The other was pruned with a combination of a power hedge trimmer and a lawn mower raised up on huge wheels. Throughout the season, the two groups were compared for flower production. Guess which plot did the best. Hint: it wasn’t the hand pruned plot. Carefully chosen roses are much tougher and more forgiving then most people realize.

At any rate, spring rose care pruning is not difficult if you keep the following points in mind:

You will need five good tools: sharp by-pass pruners, by-pass loppers, small pruning saw, elbow length (gauntlet) leather or rubber/plastic impregnated gloves, and safety goggles.

Over-pruning roses in spring tends to weaken the plant. Never prune away more than one-third of the live growth.

On all roses, remove diseased, dead and broken canes. A cane that has blackened from winterkill, or suffered physical damage, should be shortened to an inch below the offending section.

Where possible, cut on a 45 degree angle.

Once-blooming (as opposed to recurrent-blooming) roses require no further pruning in the spring. These are primarily antique roses and old-fashioned ramblers. Do whatever additional pruning necessary after blooming in early July.

Reduce hybrid tea roses to 4-5 vigorous canes not shorter than 30 inches. Grandifloras should be reduced to 5-6 canes not shorter than 36 inches. Reduce floribundas to 7 to 8 canes not shorter than 24 inches. In general, try to achieve a vase-shaped plant for most roses in these categories.

Especially on hybrid teas and grandifloras, cut 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud. Cut so the 45 degree angle allows water to drain away from, rather than into the bud.

Mini roses, shrub roses, rugosa roses and repeat blooming antique roses just need a haircut, trimming them to size.

Treat English roses and romantica roses as grandifloras.

Trim modern climbing roses and pillar roses to shape. Aged canes should be removed, as should those that grow away from the support or criss-cross awkwardly. Massive rejuvenation pruning is best postponed until early July and done, if at all, every 3 to 5 years.

To prevent cane borer, put a dab of Nubark™ Rose Stick on the cut wound of any cut branch greater than pencil thickness.

To discourage diseases and insects, rake up and discard all pruned material, including leaves, with the trash.

Spring Rose Care – Spraying

On roses that have been troubled by fungus diseases a spray of lime sulphur during spring rose care will kill the over-wintered spores of blackspot and mildew. Mixing the lime sulphur with horticultural oil will control a broader range of pests. To achieve full effectiveness from the oil, this spray must be applied on a day when it is not going to freeze the following night. Spray the roses to the dripping point and spray all the surrounding mulch. This spray must be applied when the roses are still dormant—before they start to leaf out. During the next few days, top dress with enough mulch so that total coverage is 2 to 2 ½ inches. As roses leaf out, occasionally they are troubled by green aphids on the tips. These are easily controlled with insecticidal soap.

Lavender is an immensely popular herb mostly due to its wonderful fragrance and growing importance as an essential oil. Unlike most of its herbal relatives it is not a culinary herb. Lavender is a perennial that grows better in a well-drained and slightly alkaline soil. For better performing plants use a top dressing of lime in the fall. If you live in conditions where your soil is generally wet or soggy, lavender would not be a good choice for your garden. 

Some varieties of Lavender, which are hardy to Zone 5, are:

  · English Lavender

   .Jean Davis (pink flowered)

  · Hidcote (deep purple flowers)

   · Munstead (blue flowers)                       

Because it is a woody plant lavender requires a bit more maintenance. Pruning needs to take place after you harvest the flowers in the summer. Make sure you use sharp pruning shears. Cut any remaining flower stalks and approximately 3 inches of foliage. This pruning is necessary to keep the plants from becoming spindly looking. If you can’t  prune in midsummer wait until the following spring and provide a more intense pruning until the plants are well shaped. Because lavender grows slowly I recommend purchasing established plants at your local garden center.

Lavender is a famous fragrance that can be found in many perfumes, cosmetics, and potpourris of every kind. Harvesting the flowers is an easy process for the kitchen gardener. Cut the flower stalks as soon as the flowers open. Tie several stalks together and fasten them with a rubber band. Hang them upside down to dry. You can remove the flowers from the stems for use in potpourri, floral water, and linen bags. Store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag and use them within the year.

Lavender oil is extracted mostly from the flowers of the plant. This process is done primarily by steam distillation. The essential oil has a calming effect, which makes an effective remedy for the nerves and aids in treating anxiety, headaches, depression, migraines, nervous tension and emotional stress. It’s aroma increases mental activity, as well as removes nervous exhaustion. So on those rough days just sit a spell in your little patch of lavender to ease your stress.

Aromatherapy could not exist without plants and consequently, the garden plays an important role. It’s the area used for growing the plants whose aromas can then be extracted. With a bit of planning and routine maintenance, anyone can reap aromatherapy benefits right in their own back yards.

Here are a few tips to help get you started.

The eventual quality of the plants you grow will be dependent on the quality of your soil. Before you begin gardening, test your soil. It may not be the right consistency to support plant life, it might have insufficient drainage or it may be lacking some important nutrients. These situations can easily be remedied. Your local garden center can help you with soil testing and preparation.

Growing herbs, something that many people do already, is an easy way to begin reaping the benefits of aromatherapy. Fresh herbs not only smell great, they can add a whole new dimension to cooking. Herbs and some flowers can be infused into oils or water and mixed into butter to create tantalizing new flavors.

It’s your space so plant the flowers you enjoy smelling. Aromatherapy activates the part of the brain responsible for recalling memories and it’s amazing how a simple scent can bring you back in time. The ability to recall a simpler, happier time is one of aromatherapy’s most amazing benefits. If you grew up surrounded by roses or other fragrant plants, add these to your aromatherapy garden. When mature, you’ll look forward to regular strolls through your very own ‘memory lane’. Enclosed spaces are more intimate and can really hold in the aromas.

If you’re short on outdoor planting space, use containers instead. Containers also work well in colder climates as they can be used to grow plants indoors. You can also get creative and plant seeds in between the cracks along sidewalks and stone paths.

You can plant anything you like in your aromatherapy garden. It might help to learn more about the qualities of various plants. That way, in addition to growing the plants with pleasant fragrances, you’ll grow those that can actually help in the areas you seek relief.

Eucalyptus, Citronella, Lemongrass, Lavender and Peru Balsam Bark are effective natural insect repellants. Eucalyptus also has antibiotic qualities.

For insect stings, minor cuts and abrasions, create a poultice. Into a blender add 1/2 cup of lemon balm. Slowly add boiling water while blending until a paste is created. Spread paste on the affected area. Cover with gauze or a bandage.

Here’s another recipe for insect bites. Combine 2 drops roman chamomile, 3 drops lavender, 1 drop peppermint and 3 drops eucalyptus in a container and mix well, then add 1 ounce cider vinegar. Moisten cotton ball with mixture and dab on the insect bites as necessary to relieve discomfort.

If you’re looking for an insect repellant add 60 drops of citronella essential oil into a spray bottle. Next add in 2 ounces of witch hazel extract. Shake the bottle well before each use. Spray all exposed area to keep insects away. Citronella repels insects and witch hazel has moisturizing and soothing qualities.

For four thousand years and more the world has extolled the rose as Nature’s superb floral creation. Dean Hole said “Her supremacy has been acknowledged, like Truth itself, always, everywhere, by all.” From Sappho to modern times all poets have lauded the beauty and perfume of the rose; their highest praise of beauty has often been expressed by comparison with it.

Roses flourished in the gardens of Babylon earlier than 2000 B.C. The Greeks and Romans used the rose at their feasts and in symbols both as decoration and as a charm against many evils, including alcoholic intoxication. Rose blooms were sold in large numbers from extensive gardens devoted entirely to their culture.

Garlands of roses were hung at all rejoicings and heads were crowned with rose wreaths. Rose petals were lavishly strewn on beds and floors, and in the paths of favoured people. Cleopatra, in her magnificence, had rose petals eighteen inches deep on her floors. Huge sums of money were spent in purchasing blooms and petals; Nero is said to have spent the equivalent of about 80,000 for roses for one feast alone.

Wines, conserves, perfumes, oils, medicines, lotions, embalming agents, adornments, honours the rose came to be used for them all. Rose-water was the only perfume for centuries, and it was also used for washing and purifying.

We find references to the rose in writings of all Northern Hemisphere lands England, America, China, Persia, India, Iceland, Lapland, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Syria, Greece, and Egypt and among them all there is never a questioning of the supremacy of “the Queen of Flowers”. This title was first bestowed by Sappho, about 600 B.C., in the following words:

The Rose (mankind will agree),

The Rose the Queen of Flowers should be;

The pride of plants, the grace of bowers,

The blush of meads, the eye of flowers;

Its beauties charm the gods above;

Its fragrance is the breath of love.

In the Authorized Version of the Bible the rose is mentioned only twice “I am the rose of Sharon” (Song of Solomon ii. 1), and “. . . the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah xxxv. 1) but the word “rose” does not, in either case, refer to any member of the botanical group genus Rosa. Some authorities identify it with Narcissus tazetta, a sweetly scented flower of a bulbous plant, others with Hibiscus syriacus and others with Hypericum calycinum.

In Egypt the rose appears to have been unknown until about 300 B.C., but it gradually replaced the lotus as the most favoured flower. It had probably been taken to Egypt by the Greeks. Many Egyptian tombs dating from A.D. 100 to 300 have been found containing garlands of roses, rosebuds, and rose petals. They have usually been pink and white, but occasionally there have been single yellow blooms, probably R. foetida, the Yellow Austrian Briar.

Feasting and intoxication were disapproved by the Church of Rome, and the rose fell into ecclesiastical disfavour for many years because of its association with these excesses. Later it was used frequently as an emblem. The Golden Rose of the Church of Rome, dating from the fourteenth century, is blessed by the Pope on Laetare Sunday and is occasionally bestowed on persons or institutions of special merit in the Roman Catholic faith. In the Middle Ages, roses were used in crowning priests, wreathing candles, and adorning shrines.

Ever since, the rose has been used in times of celebration. In fact it is the flower for all occasions, and will continue to be so.

Tea hierarchy oiled is a powerful herbal extraction of the Melaleuca ranking. A very helpful herbal medication, Tea hierarchy oil also yields good outcome in instance of insect bites. Tea hierarchy oiled can be worn to behavior lips ulcers with efficiency.

Tea ranking oil is a powerful herbal extraction of the Melaleuca hierarchy. It is extensively worn for medical purposes in the African countries where it is considered a compelling antiseptic. This oil is a very useful unwilling-fungal relevant and can be worn for curing fungal infections like dandruff, which is an acute fungal infection caused on the scalp by the dermatophytes existing there. It has proven very valuable in fighting the infection caused by the wounding dermatophytes Malassezia furfur.

A very competent herbal medication, Tea hierarchy oil also yields kind outcome in folder of insect bites. It could also be worn for the efficient remedy of poison ivy, sunburns, ear infections, and bee stings. Oral thought food containing Tea ranking oil like mouthwashes and toothpastes have been very efficient in curing the drawback of (bad breath) or halitosis. Such goods can also yield very upbeat results if worn for the conduct of Canker sores, which are a kind of opening ulcers.

Symptoms characterized them like open sore, which arise due to a rupturing of the mucous covering on the lip. These sores can be caused due to a category of reasons like chemical or mean strain, infection from viruses, cancerous processes, and certain border property of medications. Tea ranking oil can be worn to heal exit ulcers with efficiency. Tea ranking oil can also be worn for the handling of cold sores caused by the Herpes simplex virus. Cold formation characterized sores of pale chafes on the mucous membranes of the sex organs, backtalk and lips or epidermal skin. Tea ranking oil can also be worn to combat the viral infections of shingles sores, chicken pox, and warts.

Tea hierarchy oiled is also widely used in the preparation of surface formulations. It is important to consider that Melaleuca oil or Tea ranking oil as it is more normally known is only used for outdoor skin. When consumed, tea tree oil can begin several troubles like dream and ataxia. Oral harvest containing tea tree oil can also be used for the useful treatment of gum problems. It is important to use the weak edition of tea tree oil as application of a straight formulation can advance to skin irritation in humans and fall in animals. Other abnormalities of external use of straight tea tree oil enter formation of abnormal breast in childish men. Tea treed oil should also be not used for inside part of the ear.

Tea treed oil became a reason of normal use in 1920’s-1930 when a critique stating its clear the renowned investigator Arthur written effects Penfold. The commercial used of this result happening in the 1970’s and the 1980’s when large plantations were set up to simplify the production of this place. Tea tree oil is, in fact, free from the unusual species of bury called the Melaleuca alternifolia but it can also be shaped from the sub species of the same plant called the Melaleuca dissitiflora and the Melaleuca linariifolia.

Mildew is every gardener’s worst nightmare, especially those who have rose bushes. The most known and most common mildew that effects rose bushes is one known as sphaerotheca pannosa. This type of mildew is powdery. The mildew is usually a white or grey powder that is usually found on rose bush leaves, shoots, buds, and the petals. Once the mildew attacks the plant, it spreads very easily and a gardener will soon notice white patches on the rose bush. The fungus eventually sucks all of the nutrients and water from the leaves, which in turn kills the leaves. The leaves eventually shrivel up and fall off of the bush completely.

The common powdery mildew is not caused by free water on the rose bush’s leaves and other parts; instead the mildew lives and thrives on hot, arid weather. In fact, watering your rose bush in the afternoon will help rid of some of the powdery mildew because it will break up the spores that are released by the mildew during the daytime. If you can afford to purchase fungicides, they are also helpful in getting rid of mildew. However, the fungicide will only be effective if you apply it at the right time.

Another type of mildew that is common on rose bushes is the Peronospora sparsa fungus. This fungus causes downy mildew, which opposite of powdery mildew, lives in a moist and humid environment. The mildew is usually found under the leaves of the rose bush. If you think your rose bush has been infected with a downy mildew, look for red, purple, or brown spots on the leaves. This usually ends in the leaves turning yellow and then falling off of the bush.

Unfortunately, this type of mildew is not as easily controlled as powdery mildew. Fungicides have not proven to be helpful; however, routine rose bush pruning increases air circulation, which then reduces humidity surrounding the plant. Regular seasonal pruning is very important to the health of your rose bush.

If you cannot afford to purchase fungicides to get rid of mildew, or you just prefer not to use them, there are a few simple steps that you can follow to reduce the chance of your rose bush becoming infected.

1. Before you plant your rose bushes, be sure that they are all spaced. Hybrid teas should have at the least, 3 ft. distances and bigger bushes should be no closer than 4 ft. Keeping the plants farther away from each other allows them all to dry out quicker after you water them. Lingering water can cause and attract mildew, so spacing is important. Also be sure that your rose bush is receiving enough sunlight. Rose bushes that do not get enough sunlight will have thin leaves that can be easily taken over by mildew.

2. Prune until you can’t prune anymore! This is probably the easiest and most important. Prune whenever your bush needs it. That means year round, not just during the growing season. Pruning your rose bush prevents mildew from forming because the plant is able to receive enough air and sunlight that is spread evenly throughout the plant helps prevent mildew. Pruning a rose bush is very easy. During pruning season, prune your rose bush by cutting above the new buds. This ensures that the new growth will be pointed outward instead of inward. It is also important to take time to inspect your rose bush to keep an eye out for any forming mildew. If you spot any dead or infected parts of the bush, simply remove it and then throw it out in a sealed container so the mildew does not spread.

3. When you water your roses, water them carefully. To prevent the growth of mildew, water your plants at root level. This is most important when it is hot outside. Avoid getting water on the leaves, especially if you water your plants shortly before it is nighttime. If you do not water your rose bush at root level, the plant will become dehydrated, which is a trigger of mildew.

4. To save money and time, try this home remedy for rose bushes. Many gardeners, both old and new, use the stinging nettle. This spray is easy and quick to make. All you have to do is collect stinging nettle, put them in a sack, and crush the leaves. Then put the sack in water and let it sit in a warm environment for about a week or so. Then strain the water and dilute it with water. Use this liquid and spray it on your rose bushes every two weeks. It is sure to keep mildew away. If you do not have stinging nettle, you can make a similar spray with these simple directions:

You will need:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 gallon of water

• 1 tsp regular-flavored Listerine

• 1 tbsp liquid soap

• 1 ½ tbsp baking soda

• 1 tbsp vinegar

Mix a cup of water with baking soda, Listerine, soap, and vinegar. Add all of this to a gallon of water and poor the liquid into a spray bottle. Shake it up and you’re ready to spray!

If you love to cook with parsley, basil, rosemary, or sage, you know that there’s nothing like cooking with freshly picked herbs.  Even if you purchase these items in the store, they won’t have the same vibrant taste as the herbs you grow in your own garden.  Chances are, once you start growing your own herbs, you won’t want to go back to purchasing them!

Cost Effective

For the most part, dried herbs will cost you well over $3.00 for a small bottle of a decent brand name.  At the same time, the cost of fresh herbs is just as prohibitive – even more so if you want to purchase fresh organic herbs.  Unfortunately, as expensive as they are, fresh herbs won’t last more than a few days in your refrigerator. 

On the other hand, when you grow your own herbs, you’ll know for sure that they are healthy and free of pesticides and other chemicals.  Just be sure to purchase soil that’s free of chemical additions – many top brands include a pre-mixed fertilizer or pesticide.  In addition, you won’t need to worry about storing them in your refrigerator – all you’ll need to do is pick a few leaves whenever you want to use them for seasoning or other purposes. 

Holistic Healing

Today, many people are looking for alternatives to the expensive and side-affect laden prescription medications currently recommended by traditional doctors.  While herbal remedies have not been properly tested by researchers, certain herbs have been noted for healing effects all over the world.   Even common cooking herbs like basil, sage, spearmint, and mini strawberries can have therapeutic effects. 

When it comes to herbal remedies, seeds and seedlings are quickly becoming more widely available.  For example, in the spring you can find seeds in your local department stores for everything from Echinacea to chamomile.  If you’re interested in learning more about which herbs to grow for medicinal purposes, do some research online and through books on this topic.  In many cases, you’ll be able to obtain many of the more rare seeds or live plants through online stores.

Aromatherapy

Lavender, basil, spearmint and many other herbs all have pleasant aromas that can be used for aromatherapy purposes.  You can use these herbs to create delightful air fresheners or oils that can be used in personal care products.  Not only will your home smell better, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that you aren’t adding more chemical pollutants to the air you’re breathing.

Fortunately, the most popular herbs don’t take up much more space than a windowsill.  Even if you plant a single 8′ pot of parsley or basil, you’ll have more than enough leaves to season your cooking throughout the year.  Depending on your location, you may be able to have many different kinds of herbs growing as house plants in your home.  Not only will you enjoy the culinary and health benefit from them, they’ll also add attractive colors and aromas to your home.