Garden Magic: Let’s open the magical box

Garden Magic: Let’s open the magical box

You may imagine you need to have a beautiful picture box garden laid out in front of a thatched cottage to have a witch’s garden but really that isn’t the case.  You can style the garden in any way that suits your taste, size of garden and your budget.

Many hours and much money can be spent in garden centres and whilst they are brilliant sources for plant and design inspiration you can spend more money than you need to.  Oh…and a lot of them have a café…with cake.

Plant nurseries often tend to be cheaper than garden centres but ask around.  Lots of family and friends will probably be willing to share cuttings and seeds with you.  And once your garden has a few plants in you can propagate more from those you already have.

Gardening does take time and effort.  You will need to dig, plant, weed, dead head, water and keep things generally tidy.  Even a small garden can eat up the time, but it will be worth the effort.  Just bear the time factor in mind when designing your garden and choosing your plants.

Wildlife

Watching something grow and flourish under your care is incredibly rewarding.  Add to that once you establish plants in your garden the wildlife will follow.

Our garden this past summer had so many bees flitting about it was deafening.  In fact, I think we got in their way, they seemed incredibly annoyed if we were trying to tend to a plant they were interested in.  Along with all the butterflies, birds and of course the wide variety of insects.  You may even find other creatures such as toads and hedgehogs begin to visit.

Research

Gardens have gone through many changes over the years and come in many shapes, sizes and varieties.  Immaculate green lawns with flower borders, back gardens turned over to vegetable plots during the war, concreted over with large patios or decking and all other designs in between.

The plants within though, have long been used for medicinal and magical use.

I think it is worth doing some historical research on garden design before you plan yours out.  History can provide inspiration and insight.

The magic within

Garden magic covers not only plants, trees and flowers but also using pebbles, shells, stones and any other manner of natural items to work magic with.  Including those incredibly annoying spider webs that have a habit of colliding with your face when you walk outside.  (Spider webs are very useful ingredients in witch bottles).

I have spoken about garden magic within this blog before, see:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/beneaththemoon/2019/01/garden-magic-the-beginnings/

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/beneaththemoon/2018/05/garden-magic/

Don’t think you have to limit your garden to just herbs or fill it with ancient or deadly plants. Each and every type of plant contains magic of some kind, even the humble blade of grass and the wayward weed.

A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place…

This article was taken from the book:

Kitchen Witchcraft: Garden Magic by Rachel Patterson

It doesn’t matter if you only have a window sill with a pot plant on it, a small city terrace, a playing field or several acres, you can always work with the magic in your garden. I think the kitchen extends into the garden anyway so a Kitchen Witch will often be found pottering around in amongst the plants.

Kitchen Witchcraft: Garden Magic is the second in a series of books which delves into the world of the Kitchen Witch. Each book breaks down the whys and wherefores of the subject and includes practical guides and exercises.