Medicinal Garden Guild

A dooryard apothecary of the herbs a household reaches for first, USDA zones 5 to 8, arranged as a guild so the bed feeds and protects itself. Elderberry is the centrepiece, with sage and hyssop as its woody companions. Yarrow, anise hyssop, bee balm, catnip and Mexican hat are the flowering middle layer, drawing pollinators and predatory insects all summer. Calendula, mullein and plantain fill the gaps and sow themselves. Blue wild indigo fixes nitrogen, garlic holds the rhizosphere, and self heal and thyme close the ground. Everything is harvested by cutting, and every cutting is mulch. Site it beside the kitchen door where it is seen every day, and pick in the morning once the dew is off.