Creating a Medicinal Berry Garden

Berries are rewarding in many ways, from watching the plants flower through developing fruit until harvest and knowing that berries are a source for food and medicinal purposes.  The berry plant family is wide and complex, including many plants we don’t normally consider berries, edible or not, with more than one seed and skin.     

Deciding what berry species you are intending to plant along with the space you intend to grow them are as important as the medicinal purpose in which you will utilize them.  Herbs and berries share the same definition of an herb, “plants used by man for food or physic or for aromatic, cosmetic, or dyeing use” (Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs) and are appropriately grouped together in some garden settings.

Medicinally, berries such as Vaccinum, Ribes and Rubus sp. offer wide varieties to grow with a wide variety of medicinal uses.  Blueberries and Bilberry, part of the Vaccinium family along with wild cranberries, are rich in arbutin, a chemical that prevents the E. coli bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract.  Unsweetened blueberry juice can be used effectively for bladder problems as cranberry juice is commonly known for.  Blueberries nurture and protect the eyes and blood vessels, protect against ulcers and the leaves (one cup of boiling water with 2 cups of dried leaves) of the blueberry plant can help lower or modify blood sugar. 

Bilberries, part of the Vaccinum family, are currently enjoying more popularity in Europe than in North America.  It is a specie of blueberry that is typically found in lower elevations and like a high acid pH (5.0 – 5.6) soil.  After WWII, certain RAF pilots reported improved night vision after consuming bilberry jam and bilberries help with a variety of vision problems including cataracts and macular degeneration.  Eating the berries fresh is good for constipation while consuming dried bilberry fruit will remedy diarrhea.

The Rubus family contains the well utilized and enjoyed blackberry and raspberry.  Both are rich in vitamin C and the leaves of the blackberry contain ellagic acid, which is a anti-carcinogenic.  A study in Europe recommends an infusion of blackberry leaves for diarrhea, sore throats and mouth ulcers and an infusion of one ounce dried leaves to one pint of just boiled water steeped for under 20 minutes.

The raspberry leaves have been a pregnancy tonic for centuries as it strengthens and tones the uterus (avoid during first trimester) and the usual dose during pregnancy is one cup of tea a day.  Other century old uses of raspberry leaves include the aiding of menstrual problems and easing bee stings.

The Ribes families are slightly underutilized compared to the counterparts just mentioned, but have proven medicinal values in fighting colds and coughs, and black currant syrup and jellies are a few ways to prepare it.  The black currant berries are high in vitamin C and potassium, improving resistance to infection and are perfect to combat colds and flues.  Red currants when made into a jelly have an antiseptic effect preventing blisters and ease the discomfort of a burn if applied quickly enough.  Elderberry has a long history of uses, from wine to jelly, and is best known for combating the flu and new studies show inspiring results in trials involving herpes and HIV.

For more information on all types of berries and their growing conditions and other medicinal uses, consult the guide Backyard Fruits and Berries (Rodale Press).

Sanctuary for Your Soul- Creating a Contemplative Garden

The garden provides us with food, flowers, fragrance, colors and textures.   We tend to them with patience and care in knowing it will return with abundant yields.  The garden can equally serve as a sanctuary for our soul, as a place to retreat from the world and its worries, creating our own sacred place.

Contemplative gardens such as the rich tradition of the Zen Buddhist gardens in Japan, nurture the soul with simplicity for quiet reflection and reprieve.  This “place”, this outdoor space of simplicity, austerity and balance, will allow us to be present to the given moment as it unfolds and embark on a personal journey; a journey that will mature and expand as your garden grows.  The act of garden maintenance, such as removing fallen leaves, maintaining gravel pathways and light pruning becomes a form of meditation, allowing you and the contemplative garden to become one with the natural surroundings. 

As you begin to map out different “rooms” of your sanctuary, take time to reflect on your natural elements, ones that soothe your inner being.  Maybe it is a stand of trees that remind you of your childhood days climbing dogwoods or maples trees.  Maybe you recall the love of the ocean or creeks you visited and you wish to incorporate the sound of tricking water.  Remember, a contemplative garden should be simple, such as a grouping of aromatic lavender next to a bench should assist in centering your thoughts on a hectic day.  Simple elements that speak to you and your soul are the foundation of this place, reconnecting you with your inner being.

As a meandering pathway creates anticipation, so should your contemplative garden.  Your layout should be mindful and deliberate, a new perspective for each visitor, encouraging visitors to slow down and observe the features of your space.  Process the planning stages slowly, observing the area in which this sanctuary for your soul will be located.  Revisit the area repetitively over a period of time as you may discover a pre-existing element in a different light that could be incorporated into your garden, such as a native boulder outcropping or a fallen limb from a nearby tree.

Embark on creating your emotional, meditative and transcendent retreat focusing on the mainstay of your garden, the central core.  It could be a grove of trees providing the central core of energy and provides shade on a hot day for your spot of reflection and consider what shape of tree or types of trees have that hold the most significance for you in the process.

In a traditional Japanese garden, there was a structure such as a hut or a pergola at the end of a meandering path where tea was served, but a hut can simply be a wooden bench nestled under or amongst your grove of trees providing a place to rest.  Incorporating a screen of shrubs and trees that defines the perimeter of your retreat will create your sacred realm, a sense of place that is safe and secure.

As in all garden design, creating the sense of entry is one of the most important pieces as it identifies a place in which you move from one world to another.  This threshold can be formal with an archway or stone pillars covered in vegetation or as subtle as a well manicured meadow between two places, allowing a time to decompress and for eager anticipation of what awaits in your sanctuary.  Creating simple topography changes within the garden, such as a subtle, rolling berm planted with waterwise fescue grass creates higher ground, a feeling of clear vision and a fresh perspective.  If there is not sufficient space within your garden to dedicate to this rolling berm, the fallen tree limb or stack of vertical flat stones will help in creating this sacred mount and as Aristotle wrote The Soul never thinks without a mental picture.

Resources:  Moir Messervy, Julie

The Inward Garden and Contemplative Gardens

Keane, Marc P.

Japanese Garden Design