REMEDY FOR A SICKLY PLANT
Another remedy for a sickly plant, where root disease is suspected, was given to me by a very knowledgeable “herb lady”. Make a circle of copper wire (fairly thick gauge, or several strands of thinner gauge) and place it round the base of the ailing plant and about 1\2-inch under the soil. This is a simple remedy for one frequent cause of plant ill-health—a copper deficiency in the soil, reducing the plant’s normal resistance to disease. My favourite “perfect circle” may also have a lot to do with the protection and increased vigour given to the plant.
So, since many herbs are natural insect repellents, grow them beside other herbs which tend to be much less lucky. The chapters on each herb will give you more specific information, but here is a list of herbs that pests will seldom if ever attack: garlic chives, scented geraniums, lavender, parsley, pennyroyal, rue, santolina and tansy (except for an odd snail or two).
Use some of your herbs to free your kitchen of ants, too. Dried tansy leaves, rubbed to release their oils, will keep ants away from honey or sugar, or will drive them away even after they are already infesting a cupboard. Just rub some of the leaves between your fingers to release their oils, and sprinkle a small handful around on your cupboard shelves. A pot of basil will also discourage flies in your kitchen; they dislike its strong odour.
Time and care taken to eliminate pests from your herbs will repay you with healthy foliage and roots, untainted by chemicals or poisons.
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