Garden Witch's Herbal (4 page)

While it's true that soft curves and flowing lines do mimic nature, they are not always practical in small spaces. Your witchy garden style does not have to be defined by the area you plant in. Just because you garden in a square-shaped bed doesn't mean you have to be strictly formal. You can still achieve that casual and cottage look if you wish. In fact, one of my largest cottage-style gardens has straight edges. It has to, as it hugs one side of my house and is set off by a brick path to lead people deeper into the garden. But do I run screaming because it doesn't have, as one gardening book says, “the undulating lines of nature”? Nah. I let the plants do the work of softening the straight lines for me.

To achieve a wild and natural appearance, I allow the foliage of the plants and flowers to grow and drape over the straight edges of the beds. This softens the look and creates a more natural and carefree atmosphere. It also breaks up that rush of energy shooting straight through the side yard, and it allows my visitors to stroll along the brick path, checking out all the plants as the path pulls them deeper into my enchanted gardens.

So why are these softer edges and curves so important in garden design, anyway? Because they mimic the natural world and the wild places. Remember that nature is irregular, random, and untamed. Cities and houses incorporate straight lines, but nature does not, and you don't have to in your gardens either. This line of thought and garden design actually coordinates beautifully with the Chinese practice of feng shui.

In feng shui, straight lines are often avoided in the garden because they break up the flow of the life force, called
chi
. As Witches and natural magicians, we should all be very familiar with working with and manipulating elemental energies. Adding some positive chi into your personal magickal garden design is a subtle and very clever way to create a garden with heart—one that will encourage wealth, health, and happiness to its caretakers and visitors alike.

Feng Shui in the Magickal Garden

He who plants a garden plants happiness.

chinese proverb

Garden feng shui is a design philosophy that places garden items such as plants and lawn furniture in a beneficial way. Feng shui translates to “wind and water.” These two universal forces are necessary for life and carry energy, or chi, that brings balance into your life. When your natural environment is harmonious, according to feng shui practices, it makes you feel more comfortable and welcome. Adding a touch of feng shui in the garden is an easy way to manifest positive intentions into your life. I tried it myself, and it's fun.

I've been gardening for twenty-five years, and I only recently began to apply some feng shui practices into my own gardens. While reading up on this one weekend, I discovered to my dismay that while our garden gate (the main entrance to the garden) was great, the clutter we had on the outside—the garbage cans—was considered a feng shui no-no. And since they were sitting close to the house and by the windows, all that garbage energy was swirling straight in the house—and into our bedroom, no less!

Hmmm … feng shui book in hand, I stalked outside and took a critical look at the garden gate area. (You know, the whole threshold area we talked about before.) Well, damn. Not even an inkling of a welcoming hug at this Witch's garden gate. I had several mistakes out there: the aforementioned garbage cans, a tired-looking metal wind chime, and, to my shame, weedy flowers growing under the privacy fence on either side of the gate.

Once you stepped through the gate and into the side gardens, everything was fine. But the entrance, the threshold area, really needed some work. I found my husband and dragged him out there with me as well. Even though explaining the concept of feng shui earned me a incredulous look, he did agree with me that, as our entrance into the garden, the top of the driveway area looked less than welcoming.

As a result of my discovery, we got to work. We arranged the garbage cans on the far left side of the driveway away from the house and opened up the right side of the fence and gate area. There are simple ways (called “cures” in feng shui) of deflecting negative chi at entrances, such as hanging up wind chimes, using garden path lighting, or adding pots of plants, so I worked with what I had—and, much to my husband's relief, didn't spend any money either.

I took that old metal wind chime and freshened it up with some verdigris-looking paint and completed it with a weatherproof sealer. Amazing what a little paint and time can accomplish! Then I blessed the chime to ring out bad vibes and to ring in positive chi. We hung that chime on the privacy fence to the right of the gate. Next, we moved a pot of mixed annuals and placed it also to the right of the gate and next to the house, which looked much more inviting than the garbage cans had. I dug out an old grapevine wreath and hung that on the outside of the gate and tucked in a few yellow heads of dried yarrow.

Now, while I'll be the first to admit that the wreath isn't exactly feng shui, it certainly did help make the gate look more inviting. Since yarrow is the wise woman's herb and a wreath can be used as a symbol for the Wheel of the Year, I was satisfied that I had combined a few feng shui cures along with a little witchy symbolism.

A half-hour's worth of work, pulling a few weeds, moving the garbage cans, sprucing up an old wind chime, and hanging a simple wreath made a huge difference out there. In fact, my husband was so impressed with the change in the feel of the garden gate area that the next day he decided the pot of annuals wasn't big enough. Off we went to look for a large tropical potted plant that could take the summer heat and still look inviting. We picked up a coral-colored flowering hibiscus. This addition made us feel pretty pleased with ourselves, as according to feng shui, the color red or orange at a tall gate can help stimulate positive chi—which only goes to prove that you
can
teach an old Garden Witch a new trick.

Making the Five Elements
of Feng Shui Work Together

Nature has four seasons and five elements;
in order to grant a long life, the four seasons and
the five elements store up the power of creation …

nei ching

Now that I've gotten you in the mood to try a little feng shui, let's get down to the specifics. There are five elements in feng shui: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Incorporating a bit of something from each of these will bring balance into your garden. No matter what style or design for your landscape that you ultimately choose, this will augment the atmosphere and create a feeling of harmony and welcome. Here is an uncomplicated list of the feng shui elements and their correspondences. Add a bit of each of these into your witchy garden plan, and see what develops.

Wood

This element is associated with garden objects such as wooden fences, decking, bamboo, and wicker. The natural materials are plants, trees, and flowers. (Yes indeed, your garden is already full of wood energy because of all the plants!) The color is green, and the direction is east. Wood enhances growth and creativity. It is flexible and strong.

Fire

This element is associated with garden objects such as landscape lighting, candles, tiki torches, and a fire pit or grill. Natural materials are crimson, cone-shaped flowers and candle flames. The color is red, the direction is south. This passionate element brings enthusiasm and will energize you.

Earth

This element is associated with garden objects such as ceramic tile, terra-cotta pots, and brick pathways. Natural materials are the soil and pebbles, as well as rectangular flower beds and straight-edged lawns. You may also add stone or terra-cotta statues to the garden space to bring in even more of the earth element. The color is yellow and earthy tones of orange and brown. The direction is referred to as “the center.” This element, just as you'd expect, grounds and centers you. It is also nurturing and rich.

Metal

This element is associated with garden objects such as metal accent pieces, a trellis, or even curvy wrought-iron lawn furniture. Try metal garden lighting too. Work in circular shapes when you can, as this figure also coordinates with the element of metal. Natural materials are white flowers and silver foliage plants. (For silver-colored plants, try lamb's ears, mullein, or dusty miller.) Colors are white, grey, and pastels; the direction is west. This dense element brings power, strength, and action.

Water

This element is linked to such garden objects as water features, fountains, ponds, and birdbaths and also glass, crystals, and mirrors. Blue flowers will naturally add a splash of water energy as well. A quick way to add the element of water into a garden where a water feature can't easily be added is to hang a crystal from a tree branch. You can also use a glass- topped table. The colors for this element are dark, such as black and deep blue; the direction is north. This flowing element relaxes and revitalizes you.

A Feng Shui Color Guide for the Garden:

An Enchanting List of Color, Hue, and Tone

According to feng shui traditions, these plant and flower colors encourage the following emotions. You will notice, however, that these are almost identical to the traditional color correspondences of the Witch and the magickal practitioner.

Black:
enigma, enchantment

Blue:
peace, healing, relaxation

Cobalt Blue:
connecting to a higher purpose

Green:
growth, prosperity, tranquility

Light Green:
relief, tranquility

Lime Green:
awakens the spirit

Magenta:
higher emotional and spiritual processes

Orange:
energy, fusion, conversation, mysticism

Pale Blue:
mystery, contemplation

Pink:
friendship, affection, romance

Purple:
spirituality, magick, divinity

Red:
power, exhilaration, passion, warm feelings

Silver and Grey:
goddess colors, moon magick

White:
purity, innocence, new beginnings

Yellow:
clarity, mental illumination, intuition

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Chapter 2

Green Witchery
in the City

The city is a powerful landscape of magick,
filled with secrets and energy
for those who know where to look.

christopher penczak,
city magick

A true Witch is in sync with the environment, no matter where it is they happen to call home. A modern Witch rarely lives in a secret cottage at the edge of the woods, surrounded by lush garden beds and trees. They can and do live and practice their craft quite successfully in the city. If they are in tune with the rhythms of their surroundings and the flow and beat of the town

or city, this is an easy task. It's not where you live and practice your craft and green magick that matters, it's how you work with what you have.

Green magick and herbal enchantments are an integral part of all witcheries. This chapter will show you ways to apply a touch of that old green magick regardless of where you live and practice your craft. No matter where you dwell—in the city, the suburbs, or the country—it is possible to create a Witch's garden. Over the years, I have fielded many questions from Witches and magick users all asking about growing plants, flowers, and herbs in a city environment. Be assured, it can be done—and it can be done beautifully.

I have seen apartment-dwelling Witches turn front porches, balconies, and decks into mini gardens with the clever use of containers and window boxes. I know one couple who took a small patch of unused ground, no larger than three feet by six feet, and turned that into a fabulous magickal garden. This spot was directly across from their front door, and they were itching to do something with it instead of just watching the weeds grow. So they checked with their landlord first and asked if there would be any objections to them gardening in that little weedy patch. The landlord didn't mind, as long as they kept the sidewalk area clear.

So, armed with gardening tools and shovels, they pulled the weeds, turned the earth, amended the soil with compost, and planted away. What this couple pulled off was amazing. Sandwiched between a sunny sidewalk and an old privacy fence, this tiny city garden was stuffed full of flowering herbs, culinary herbs, a few tomato plants, and a Green Man statue. The garden was the talk of the apartment complex. Even the landlord raved about how cleverly the couple had used the space. Where there is a will, there is a way … or I should say, where there is a Witch, there is always a way to garden.

City-dwelling Witches, take heart. It is possible to successfully grow herbs and magickal plants while living in the city. You can indeed surround yourself with the elemental energies of green magick. Container gardens are the answer to your problems, and lush little city nooks filled with colorful plant-filled containers are everywhere, popping up in the most unusual places—rooftop gardens, flower-filled balconies and decks, a row of terra-cotta pots bursting full of herbs lined up on fire escapes. Sunny patios and decks are filled with magickal and culinary herbs and produce even as we speak. Secret shady gardens delight their owners in alleys behind apartment buildings, and dainty window boxes add enchantment to many a metropolitan windowsill.

Many herbs and magickal plants will flourish in pots and containers. You can grow just about anything in a pot, including veggies, flowers, and herbs. The best part about container gardening is that you have control over weeds, the size of the plants, and your color combinations. Container gardens are mobile, adjustable, and suitable to everyday life. If you grow tired of the arrangement, it is easy to shift things around. With container gardening, city Witches have the opportunity to create a private, magickal outdoor sacred space all of their own. In these magickal gardens, they can dream, relax, and stay connected to nature.

Sarah's City Witch Garden

Learn of the green world what can be thy place,
In scaled invention or true artistry.

ezra pound

A dear friend and coven-mate of mine lives deep in the city of St. Louis. She lives in Soulard, which has a reputation for clubs, bars, and one of the larger Mardi Gras celebrations in the country. Behind Sarah's old brick four-family flat, she has an amazing magickal city garden that is a mixture of a small garden beds and several strategically placed container gardens.

On her back porch, there are containers, hanging baskets, and pots bursting with color and scent. As you move down the steps and onto the brick path, she has carved out a small magickal garden planted with herbs, perennials, and cottage-style flowers.

When our coven went to her home for Beltane this past year, we got a chance to see her little Witch's garden in all its glory. Sarah was excited to show me her garden, and it was phenomenal. In a small garden bed, rosemary and tarragon were in a race to see who could grow taller, while terra-cotta pots filled with a bewitching assortment of annuals, herbs, and flowers were tucked along the front of her tiny city garden like a border.

Behind the rosemary and tarragon, stately red hollyhocks and silver artemisia grew side by side while phlox crept along the old brick walkway. For a touch of whimsy and magick, Sarah had added decorative garden stakes. One was a painted metal sun and moon, and there was a stained-glass star; metal and glass candleholders were strategically placed in her garden space.

Against the building, opposite the garden bed, she had benches for her large houseplants that she moved outside for the warmer weather. Here, another multileveled container garden happily thrived. Tucked between the two large potted houseplants were more colorful containers of flowering annuals in every shade imaginable. Some were elevated on old concrete blocks and some were on decorative columns. Purple, pink, and white petunias, yellow daisies, tall snapdragons, blue lobelia, geraniums in every color, and culinary herbs were thriving here and mixed with abandon. Even an old metal child's wagon, filled with more pots of flowering plants, was pressed into gardening service. A metal watering can stood guard, and a large metal star hung from a plant hook off the side of the building. There was even a small, cheerful sign tucked into the potted ficus tree announcing “The Witch Is In!”

I was impressed. Sarah and her boyfriend had taken an old, neglected spot and turned it into a place filled with magick and atmosphere. Deep in the city, green magick does flourish. It's simply up to the Witch to make it so.

Growing a Witch's garden in the city is a creative process of trial and error. City living can be stressful on plants. They have to manage pollution and an artificial habitat. Design your own magickal city garden with plants that will thrive on the strengths, weaknesses, and quirks of your particular growing conditions. Experienced urban gardeners like Sarah know that they can find a balance between those plants that they want and those plants that they can successfully grow.

But let's face it, not all of us are pros at this sort of thing. To help you with your urban magickal gardening, here are some practical pointers that will help you achieve growing
success
.

Your Urban Witch Garden Site

Blows the wind to-day,
and the sun and the rain are flying …

robert louis stevenson

The site where you choose to create a container garden will become your own mini climate. A mini climate includes such things as the amount of sun and wind you will receive, wind exposure, and moisture levels. You must also take into consideration that neighboring buildings can affect sun and shade patterns by cutting off sunshine or reflecting more of light and heat back to you due to light-colored walls. The trick to discovering your site's mini climate is observation. Keep a sharp watch on how much sun your balcony or deck receives and at what time of day, if any, that you have shade. The key thing here is when you have shade—if you have early morning shade and full sun from noon on, your site probably faces west. That is a sunny garden, and it will require heat-tolerant plants that need full sun.

There are varying degrees of shade, too: full shade, dappled shade, and part shade. But which one do you have? Well, to help you sort that out, here are some basic guidelines for determining what type of sun exposure or shade you have. To begin, draw a simple diagram of your area. Then, beginning at sunrise, take notes on where your shade and sun patterns fall. Then at various times of the day—about every two hours—note the changes with dashed lines for sun and solid lines for shade. Make a little note alongside your drawings to mark the time. Yes, this will take all day, but it is important to do, so stick with it.

You will also want to note where the shade patterns fall during the different seasons, so plan to make shade maps in spring, summer, and fall. For example, a sun-loving rose will require full sun—at least six hours a day—to look its best, so you'll need to plan accordingly. These seasonal shade maps may be your most valuable tools in determining which plants you will be able to grow successfully.

Sun and Shade Patterns

Leaves of the summer, lovely summer's pride,
Sweet is the shade below your silent tree.

william barnes

Less Than 2 Hours of Sunlight
=
Full Shade
. Plant suggestions are bugle, columbine, dead nettle, ferns, hostas, ivy, lily of the valley, monarda, mints, periwinkle, Solomon's seal, tansy, and violets. Consider that light-painted walls will help to reflect sunlight and warm up your shady garden.

2–6 Hours of Sunlight
=
Partial Shade.
These plants should thrive: angelica, astilbe, betony (aka lamb's ears), black cohosh, catmint, coral bells, ferns, foxglove, heliotrope, hostas, lady's mantle, mallows, mint, pansy, soapwort, and sweet woodruff.

6–12 Hours of Sunlight
=
Full Sun.
Look for heat-tolerant plants such as rosemary, lavender, coneflowers, sunflower, santolinas, and scented geraniums. You will also have great luck with culinary herbs and roses if you do not allow them to dry out. Exposed sites, such as rooftops, penthouses, terraces, and balconies, often receive six to twelve hours of sunlight per day and perhaps indirect sunlight as well.