Sowing the seeds of history

THE Roman Legions left behind something very special.

Even well into the last century, most gardens possessed a herb garden, even if it went under another name.For thousands of years, herbs have been eaten for their taste alone, then used for their medicinal benefits (and, occasionally, even for their supposed sexual attributes) and finally stored and dried for their aromas.But modern medicine, canned foods and personal deodorants arrived, and herbs found themselves relegated to the cottage garden.But herbs still have so much to offer and they don’t demand acres of space. A herb garden can be a few pots, a square of earth baked by the sun, or even a scattering of sowings in and among the annual beds, herbaceous borders and vegetable plot.With just a little bit of care and attention to soil and site, anyone can take a leaf out of the history books and produce a garden which would have been familiar to Julius Caesar.Many herbs are natives of the Mediterranean and travelled far and wide with the conquering armies of Rome. But when the Legions left, the seeds they had sown stayed behind to do a bit of conquering of their own in colder climes.Mallow, mints, lavender, tarragon, flax, lemon balm, sorrel, motherwort, sweet cicely, lovage, valerian, woodruff, lungwort, chervil, coriander, yarrow, hyssop, rosemary, chamomile, coltsfoot, pennyroyal, spearmint, mullein, tansy, rue, borage – to name but a few – earned their places. And they continue to grow in popularity.They remain as living reminders of the history of Britain – but like the Romans, only the most competitive and aggressive have stayed the course; many flourished for a while but then weakened and vanished. And it was the victorious which were to provide the template for the herb revival.Most herbs love the sun. Grow them where they can bask untroubled by biting winds and where the soil is neither rich nor poor. Fertilisers will boost leaf growth but diffuse the flavour, and constant watering during dry spells is doing a disservice to the plants.Once established, most herbs can take good care of themselves and all the gardener need do is to curtail the invasive tendencies of certain varieties, prune where necessary, and take plenty of cuttings of those which sometimes fall foul of the British climate.

Courtesy:Yorkshire Post