7 wise tips for choosing the theme of your garden

To design a garden of medicinal and aromatic herbs, it's sometimes easier to be inspired by a specific theme. Here are seven smart suggestions to help you make your choice.

• Choose plants pleasant to the sight, hearing, smell and touch: lavender and rosebushes for their fragrant flowers; citrus, lemon balm, thyme and anise for the scent of their crumpled leaves.
• Create contrast between the softness of the woolly hedge nettle (lamb's ear) and the hardness of the upright spikes of lavender, or the roughness of the lemon balm leaves.

• Group your plants by flavours.
• You can therefore bring spicy or pungent plants such as red peppers, arugula (rocket) and cilantro (coriander) together, or grow classic aromatic herbs of French cuisine, such as tarragon, chervil and parsley.

• Make small bouquets to offer to a loved one or for decorating the house, with flowers straight from your garden.
• Peony, lavender, nasturtium, scented geranium, poppy, sage, calendula (marigold), feverfew and iris lend themselves very well to bouquets.

• A number of decorative items can benefit from aromatic plants: cushions of fragrant herbs and moth bags, labels and cards decorated with dried flowers, murals created from herb photographs, digital prints on napkins, hanging herbs — the possibilities are virtually endless.

Gather roses, mint, marjoram and oregano to make potpourris, air fresheners and cleaning lotions; protect your dog or cat from fleas with plants like lavender.

• Many medicines come from plants.
• Discover the medicinal properties of many plants, since there's nothing better than having a beautiful garden that helps you maintain or achieve good health.
• Note: Always consult your doctor before taking any herbal supplements.

With essential oils, freshly picked plants and some common ingredients, you can prepare natural cosmetics to tone your skin, maintain your hair and more.

• Now that you know these tips, it will be easier for you to choose which plants or flowers to buy and how to arrange them on your terrain.
• Your garden will be both practical and pretty!