Gardening Help

While there are plenty of over-the-counter remedies for the health issues women face, natural herbal remedies are definitely worth trying. Whether you’re hoping to alleviate the symptoms of PMS, have a healthy pregnancy, or just reduce stress and tension, chances are good that some of the remedies below will work for you. While these herbal remedies are considered safe and unlikely to cause harmful side effects, it’s best to check with your doctor before using them, especially if you are pregnant or nursing.

Herbs for PMS Relief

The joys of PMS and menstruation: bloating, headaches, cramps, moodiness. If you are looking for a natural way to deal with the discomfort, consider growing these herbs in your garden:

Not just for kitty — catnip is a great PMS reliever. Photo credit: ali graney, Flickr Creative Commons.

• Red clover: To reduce bloating, steep 1 tablespoon of dried red clover blossoms in one cup of boiling water for 15 minutes. Drink two to three cups per day until bloating subsides.
• Ginger: Ginger helps reduce cramping. You can make a ginger tea and drink up to three cups per day, or find or make a natural ginger ale and drink three cups per day.
• Catnip: Catnip is another great herb to help relieve cramping. Catnip tea is easy to make, and has a long history as an herbal remedy for menstrual cramps. Don’t drink catnip tea if you are pregnant or nursing.
• Parsley: Aside from being a great garnish and breath freshener, parsley also has diuretic properties. A tea made from steeping one tablespoon of fresh parsley in a cup of water for ten to fifteen minutes will help reduce bloating.
• Yarrow: This easy-to-grow herb is also an effective cramp reducer. Steep one tablespoon of dried or two tablespoons of fresh yarrow flowers in boiling water for fifteen minutes. You can drink this tea every two hours until cramp discomfort subsides.
• Chamomile: A tablespoon of fresh or dried chamomile flowers, steeped for ten to fifteen minutes, makes a tea that does double duty for those of us dealing with PMS: it reduces cramping and stress. Drink as often as you need it.

All of the herbs above can be grown in the garden or in containers, preferably in full sun. Except for ginger, they can all be grown easily from seed, which makes them an inexpensive option. To grow ginger, you can buy a ginger root from the grocery store and plant it in the garden. You can dig it up and remove pieces as necessary, then replant it, or just leave it alone during the gardening season and dig it up before frost. The root will grow new side shoots while it is planted.

Herbs for a Healthy Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, consult your doctor before trying any herbal remedy. Many women swear by two herbs for a healthy pregnancy: stinging nettle and raspberry leaf.

Stinging nettle is worth growing or foraging for a healthy pregnancy. Photo credit: La Catholique, Flickr Creative Commons.

• Stinging Nettle: Nettle is very high in vitamins and minerals, so it adds a good shot of additional nutrition to the diet — important especially during pregnancy.
• Raspberry Leaf: Raspberry leaf tea is traditionally drunk during the last trimester to help prepare the uterus for the work of childbirth and help reduce labor pains.

Consider making a pregnancy tea from nettle, raspberry leaf, and mint.

Nettle is often considered to be a weed, but it is well worth growing for tea. Be careful: it’s called “stinging nettle” for a reason — brush your arm across just one of its leaves and you’ll know why. It’s best to grow nettle where you can keep it away from kids for exactly this reason. Depending on where you live, you may not have to grow it. It can be foraged in many areas. Though it’s not a fun plant to harvest, once brewed or cooked, it loses all of its sting.

If you are growing red raspberries for the fruit, you already have the leaves you need.

Herbs to Reduce Nausea

Mint is easy to grow, and a great nausea reliever. Photo credit: Summer Tomato, Flickr Creative Commons.

Nausea can be a problem during both pregnancy and menstruation. There are two herbs in particular that are great to brew as teas.

• Ginger: Make a ginger tea, or find or make a good natural source of ginger ale and drink as necessary to reduce nausea.
• Mint: Mint tea (one tablespoon of fresh mint leaves steeped in boiling water for fifteen minutes) is a great nausea reducer. If you are pregnant, steer clear of peppermint. It’s just too strong, and can make you feel worse than you already did. Spearmint, apple mint, or any of the other fruit-scented mints work very well.

Herbs to Reduce Stress and Tension

Lavender is a beautiful perennial that helps soothe stress. Photo credit: Dave Catchpole, Flickr Creative Commons.

All of the herbs listed below have been shown to help reduce stress. They are all easily grown in full sun either in the garden or in a container. Growing lemon balm in a container may be a good idea due to its tendency to be somewhat invasive. Brew them individually or as a mixture — one tablespoon of fresh herb to one cup of boiling water. Let the tea steep for fifteen minutes, then drink it as a hot tea or iced tea.

• Lemon balm: This member of the mint family has a fresh lemon flavor. Like all mints, it is fairly easy to grow — in fact, it may become invasive if it’s happy. Consider growing lemon balm in a container if this is a concern.
• Lavender: Use fresh lavender buds in teas. They are most potent before they open fully. You can also harvest and dry the buds to use in teas.
• Chamomile: Chamomile is easy to grow in a garden or in containers. There are two types: German and Roman chamomile. German chamomile is used most often for teas. It has a light, almost apple scent and flavor.

Herbs for Menopause

Red clover is great for just about every stage of a woman’s life. Photo credit: nordique, Flickr Creative Commons.

There are also several herbal remedies for menopause that have a long history of success at alleviating hot flashes and other symptoms. These include black cohosh, licorice, and red clover.

These natural remedies are well worth a try if you prefer to avoid taking pills and other over-the-counter concoctions. And you can grow all of them in your very own garden.

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