Herbal Tea: Good For Your Plants

Dear Readers,

Today I’m talking about herbal teas and how they can help you in the garden.

In biodynamic gardening, it is common to use teas made from herbs such as valerian, chamomile or yarrow to spray on to plants or the soil in which they grow.  Biodynamic gardeners use a tea made from the fresh or dried plant parts which is boiled then diluted down to be sprayed.  These herbal teas are used to combat a range of pets, diseases and maladies  associated with plants, just as you would perhaps take herbal teas to help with a stomach upset or to help you sleep.

You could try herbal teas in the garden which are in date or out of date from the kitchen cupboard (especially if you’re thrifty!) simply by adding a couple of bags to a large cup of 16 oz or more and allowing them to steep in the hot water until the water is cold.  Remove the bags then pour the tea into a watering can and fill with water and use in the garden.

Chamomile tea seems to be helping our herbs in the Tea Garden have a stronger scent and nettle tea seems to be a general plant tonic to give them a boost.

Spent herbal tea bags make a great addition to the compost pile after you have made yourself a nice hot cup; they are usually made of more natural materials in the bags or come in a loose leaf form.  It has been speculated that some of the commercial black and green teas have plastics in their bags to help keep the form of the bag.  The herbs inside decaying impart their goodness to the compost heap and to the plants and soil which will receive the finished compost in Fall (autumn) or Spring.