The Heritage Herb Garden at the Ozark Folk Center graces the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas, and helps us to interpret the history of the human use of plants. This article was originally published on July 4, 2006. I so enjoyed writing it that I offer it once again to honor of all of those who battle for a pest-free garden.

Early July marks a period of exuberant growth in the garden. Marigolds, sunflowers, Oswego tea, Monarda didyma, and tomatoes dazzle the eye with hot firework colors. Fresh bursts of fragrant foliage erupt from basil plants after weekly pesto harvests. Pumpkin and squash vines race to cover the ground and trellises. Seed heads of poppy, chervil, salad burnet, and cilantro stand ready to shatter and perpetuate their progeny.

Meanwhile, garden borders are under attack. Bermuda grass stealthily sneaks runners over and under the front line. Nut grass, a sedge with edges, sprouts up through the cracks in concrete, gathers strength, stores food in subversive “nuts”, then stretches roots underground, staging stubborn re-appearances within cultivated boundaries. Quackgrass expands its territory by rapid expansion of rooted and seed-bearing stems. Swift and sure retaliation is the only option for victory. 

A small band of gardeners, armed with pruning shears, cultivating tools, and rounds of water hoses patrol verdant patches. Our uniforms are loose-weave cotton shirts and tough denim trousers. Our heads are protected with wide-brimmed straw hats. In the wildest territory we wear gloves, a barrier against poison ivy oils and thorns. We work in the open in the cool of the day. After the mid-day meal, we retreat to shady cover. We drink copious quantities of water and sweat it out to cool our bodies. We take care of ourselves and our plants.

Our goal is to pluck out what offends the eye and support the health and beauty of the plants we cultivate. We dig the weeds out by the roots. We strive to eradicate enemies while they are small and before they can set ripe seed. We ‘deadhead’ flowering plants and remove the dead and dying from the glorious battlefield for proper burial in the compost heap.

Every mission is an adventure, fraught with new challenges, discoveries, and danger. Weeds entrench themselves next to the plants we defend. We must extract adversaries without harming the young and innocent. As we water and feed the soil, we are careful not to burn the plants we are attempting to nourish.

There are hosts of garden inhabitants to identify. Some are allies armed with stingers and fangs, alarming the gardener with ‘friendly fire’. In the heat of battle, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish friends from the foes. Bees, hornets and wasps pollinate plants and some of them feed on leaf-eating caterpillars. Garden spiders trap all sorts of bugs in their webs, helping to keep a balance of power. We fear them not.

We intercede when plants grow too wantonly into pathways so that children can play, unhindered, in the Folk Kids’ Mountain Garden and imagine living Ozarks history. Trumpet vines, possum grape and bittersweet must be pruned off of buildings and porches so they will not tear down or rot the structures.

I hope you will wind your way through our garden pathways every chance you get. There is quality and diversity in the experiences waiting for you at the Ozark Folk Center. As always, if I don’t see you in the future--I’ll see you in the pasture!