Healing hedgerows

A few years ago in early December one of our readers wrote to ask what was the best time of the year to begin to study plants and why we had lost interest in the uses made of plants.

She asked these questions in January and I said "begin now." This led to several letters pointing out that this was silly because there were so few plants in flower in the winter.

This is just my point. In the summer there are so many species of flowering plant growing that those learning the art of identification get confused and lose confidence.

It therefore makes sense to begin now and thus tick off the species gradually. Learning about flowers is much easier than it was because we all have access to simple, cheap and easy to use cameras which give excellent results.

It will be interesting to see if we can build up the number of plants seen in flower during the winter months. This week, for example there is an impressive number.

The second question concerned the use we make of herbs in modern medicine. Our grandparents certainly knew more about the value of herbs and just a couple of generations in the past most people relied upon plants rather than chemists.

In recent years there has been an increased use in herbal medicine. But if you have a problem, see your doctor first. Far too many people rely on herbal remedies and can become ill because they have insufficient knowledge to treat themselves.

I am more interested in the history of herbal treatments and many plants which grow around woodlands, rivers, mountains and coasts were once used with some success.

Comfrey for example was once called knitbone and this really is a healing herb. Not only was it used rather like we use plaster of paris today to set broken limbs, comfrey was also used to treat cuts and bruises because it does improve the blood supply and therefore speed up healing. Comfrey (pictured)grows in hedgerows.

Wintergreen grows on upland bogs and in some damp hollows around the coast. It was brewed up into a sort of liniment and this is still its use today. It does smell strongly but there is no doubt that it works.

Henbane has chemicals in it which cure headaches and toothache, but here we need to be careful. If you get the right dose your headache is cured, but if you use too much then the plant is lethal.

This is why I repeat, enjoy reading about the use of our native plants but don't sample anything unless you know what you are doing. If you have a health problem see your doctor but you can still enjoy your herbs.