Callie McCall February 2, 2025

Having a fresh cup of tea picked straight from the garden is so rewarding. Not only that but there are many health benefits to drinking herbal teas. There is something so wonderful about picking fresh herbs and then creating a delicious tea!

Today’s post we will be designing a Tea Garden. This will be a simple garden using raised beds to contain the herbs from taking over the garden. Especially mint. Luckily, I have a tip for controlling the mint.

“Tea Jars” by Freestocks.org/ CC0 1.0

Tea bed design

I have 2-18inx 4ft garden raised garden beds that I will be using to establish my tea garden this year. These exact garden beds in the picture were made using recycled pallets from our local grocery store. Layer wood chips and dried leaves on the bottom third of the raised bed. These will break down over time providing additional nutrients.

For soil, you will need one that is designed for good water retention. A nice fluffy soil with coconut coir, compost, and perlite will help the plants hold and use the water efficiently.

In previous years I have planted the plants all around the garden and let them spread throughout the garden. It is beautiful and it does attract pollinators to different parts of the garden. However, this year I thought it would be great to plant my permanent tea garden plans in raised beds.

One nice thing about tea gardens is that many herbs are perennials meaning they will come back each year. Planting once will reward you with years of tea for the picking. There are so many choices. This post contains 6 herbs that are easy to grow, that make many delicious teas.

1

“Lavendar” by Topher/ CC0 1.0

Lavendar

Lavendar has a nice floral taste but the fragrance is even better. Lavendar can help with inflammation, anxiety, and tension. Lavender has beautiful purple flowers that also attract bees and other helpful pollinators to the garden.

2

Pineapple sage

“Sage Leaves” by Travel Photographer/ CC0 1.0

Pineapple sage has a very nice tropical hint to it. Slightly sweet and almost citrusy, it makes a wonderful addition to any tea, or even just to flavor some iced water. Pineapple sage is supposed to help with high blood pressure, depression, and digestive issues.

3

Chamomile

“Close-up several chamomile flowers“/ CC0 1.0

Nothing smells better than bottled chamomile. I love picking it in a jar and then sealing it up, just to inhale that scent. Fresh chamomile reminds me of honey, it smells so sweet. Chamomile is known for aiding sleep, but it can also help with relieving cold symptoms, reducing menstruation cramps, and lowering blood sugar.

4

Chocolate Mint

“Fresh Mint” by Nature Backgrounds/ CC0 1.0

Chocolate mint has a nice strong mint flavor with just a hint of chocolate. Make a great bedtime latte. Mint is great for digestion, respiratory, weight management, and anxiety. Mint is great addition to many drinks hot or cold.

5

Bee Balm

“Sunset in summer over bee balm and growing gardens” by Courtney Robertson/ CC0 1.0

Bee Balm is also known as Bergamot – which tastes like a mild mint. This pretty flower can add a nice flavor to your herbal tea all the while helping fight off colds and the flu.

6

Cone Flower AKA Echinacea

“Purple Cone Flower” by Sadie-Michaela Harris/ CC0 1.0

Purple cone flower is also known as Echinacea has many uses. This beautiful flower not only add a large bloom to enjoy but it has many health benefits as well. Echinacea adds a nice earthy and floral flavor to your tea. Echinacea is an anti-inflammatory while also helping boost your immune system.

Warning: Mint likes to take over!

How to control the MINT

Mint is the biggest concern because it can quickly take over. To help with this I will plant my mint in a large clay container and then dig a hole in the garden box large enough for the clay container. Filling the container with soil and only leave a small top of the pot above soil so that you don’t accidentally break the container when working the garden bed. This will help keep the mint contained, after a few years if it starts to spread out of the container, you can dig up the container easily removing the majority of the plant. Separate the container plant into several smaller containers and give away as gifts or you can dry it and save it for later use.  

How to make tea-

Now that you’ve grown the plants how do you make the tea. That is the best and easiest part. You can pick the leaves fresh and add them straight to water. You can take a handful of herbs, put them in a cup and pour boiling water to enjoy a hot steeping cup of tea in less then 10 minutes. The herbs are great when infused as well. To infuse the herbs, take a pitcher of water and add herbs like chocolate mint and blackberries. Let the water sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Drink within 5 days if you use fresh fruit in the water.

If you have more herbs than you can drink then drying the herbs will become your next best friend. Drying the herbs is easy, you can tie and hang them upside down or bake them slowly for hours until they are completely dehydrated. Store the herbs in air tight containers.

I hope you enjoyed this post on how to build your very own tea garden.

Happy growing.

I can help you design and create a garden of your own.

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Leave a comment below if you would like help designing your dream garden.