Question
Hello! I am getting ready to plant a garden in which the plants will be mainly used in folklore/herbal medicine recipes, and I am trying to find a referance (a person, on-line, or a book) that could help me plan the layout of the garden (i.e., what plants grow well next to one another, what plants to grow around the perimiter to discourage garden destroying pests, etc) and I want to do all of it organically. Some of the plants are lavander, calendula, basil, bayberry, barbarry, aloe, and peppermint. They don't all need to be grown in one little square space either. Anyways, my question is what resource would you reccomend to help me plan this? Any help you could provide would be massively appreciated. Thanks so much!


Answer
If you check our website you will find all of that information...http://www.avant-gardening.com  

Plant the taller plants behind the shorter plants, and herbs like alkaline soil, about pH 7, and some mulch to keep their roots cool.   All the ones that you mentioned should grow together nicely. There are a lot of photos in our virtual tour for some landscaping ideas.

Garlic planted around the perimiter will discourage some pests.  If the soil is well balanced, your pest problems should be few.  Get a soil test kit from a local nursery and test your soil.  You can decide what to add after you know the results, and check our page on "soil building".  Herbs like good drainage, and not a soggy soil.

It is always nice to include some little pool of water and plant the plants around them, or just make some sort of patterened garden area with a winding path through it.  This will also attract birds, who will eat insects.

If you just sit and stare at the area awhile, some ideas will probably come to you.  Notice the lay of the land, and imagine some patterns, circles, interlocking, winding paths, etc.

Good luck!