Useful plants for the lazy gardener

Hi I’m Sammy,

Your Good Farm in-house nutritionist. Here to bring you essential information on nutrition, diet and permaculture gardening - in a bite size, easy to understand, science-backed way.

Useful Plants That Keep on Giving

Gardening, much like life, has seasons. There are times when the garden is overflowing, and times when it's little more than a few faithful plants quietly hanging on.

My own relationship with gardening has certainly ebbed and flowed. It really began after my mum passed away 11 years ago. She was a gardener and was always in our garden, any garden in fact. After she died, I found myself gravitating towards the soil, partly because it made me feel closer to her. Over time, I realised gardening had become much more than growing plants. It became a way of processing the bigger things in life, while reminding me that life, death and rebirth are all part of the same cycle.

For a while I gardened furiously. I built several garden beds, read every gardening book I could get my hands on, filled them with vegetables and flowers, woke before sunrise to water everything, and became slightly obsessive about the whole process, as though gardening itself helped the grief move through me. At the time, not much of what I grew ended up on my plate, but that was only half of it.

Many years later, when I returned to Sydney and found myself navigating another season of life, I threw that same energy into digging holes and planting trees along my nature strip.

Author Alice Vincent writes so poignantly in her book Why Women Grow about the relationship many women have with gardening, describing how the earth can hold feelings that are difficult to carry elsewhere. That idea has always resonated with me.

These days my garden is in a very different season. The edible bed and pots are looking woeful. There are more bare patches than produce and plenty of weeds. But when everything else is struggling, a handful of sturdy plants continue to offer us something, even when I cannot offer them much in return.

Whether you live in an apartment, with or without a balcony, or on a large property, I think everyone benefits from growing at least one plant with an edible or medicinal use. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Just one plant that encourages you to step outside, connects you to nature and occasionally makes its way into your kitchen or medicine cabinet.

These are some of my most reliable friends.

Lemon Myrtle

Don't have much space? No worries. My lemon myrtles grows on my nature strip.

If you live on Sydney's Northern Beaches, have a look at the nature strip outside your home. If there isn't already a street tree, you may be in luck. The council has been planting thousands of trees to increase canopy cover, helping reduce urban heat, improve air quality, support wildlife and create cooler, more liveable streets. Even better, they water and maintain the tree during its establishment period, making it one of the easiest ways to grow something substantial with very little effort.

Lemon myrtle is a beautiful Australian native that can reach around 30 metres in the wild, although it responds well to pruning and can easily be maintained as a small tree. I've even seen it grown as a hedge.

Its leaves contain one of the highest natural concentrations of citral, the compound responsible for its distinctive lemon aroma far higher than lemons themselves. Traditionally and increasingly supported by modern research, lemon myrtle has been recognised for its antimicrobial properties and has long been used as both a food and medicine.

I use the leaves everywhere. Add them to herbal teas or simmer them into a therapeutic decoction, a stronger herbal brew made by gently boiling the leaves, with a little honey when someone has a sore throat. Pop a leaf into soups or slow-cooked meals in place of a bay leaf, or add a few leaves to a steam inhalation or the bath when the kids are congested.

One of my favourite tricks, which I learnt on a Bush Tucker tour at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, is to gently crush a fresh leaf to release its fragrant oils, roll it into a small tube and place it just inside the nostril. It makes a wonderful natural alternative to a menthol inhaler.

Aloe Vera

Nothing says "don't worry about me" quite like aloe vera. Tough, forgiving and wonderfully self-sufficient, it asks for little more than a sunny spot and well-drained soil. Yet in return, it offers more than many expensive skincare products.

Originating from the Arabian Peninsula, aloe vera is now grown throughout warm climates around the world. It has been used for thousands of years, with records of its medicinal use dating back to ancient Egypt.

Anyone living in Australia, or anywhere with high UV exposure, should have an aloe vera plant growing in the garden or in a pot. Snap off an outer leaf, slice it open and apply the clear inner gel directly to minor burns, sunburn, insect bites or irritated skin. It provides an instant cooling sensation and may help support the skin's natural healing process.

I also used it throughout pregnancy, smoothing the fresh gel over my stretching belly. I also use it as a simple face serum. At first it's sticky, but as you continue to massage it into the skin, it becomes surprisingly smooth and silky.

The clear inner gel can also be consumed in small amounts, but only after the yellow latex layer just beneath the skin has been completely removed. This bitter latex contains compounds that act as a strong laxative and are not recommended for regular consumption. For most of us, aloe vera is at its best as nature's first-aid kit for the skin.

Calendula

Calendula is one of my favourite plants, not just because it looks pretty but because it has so many uses.

In the garden, calendula is known as a companion plant. It attracts beneficial insects such as ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewings, which in turn help keep aphids and other pests in check. I like planting it near tomatoes and citrus, and once established it usually self-seeds, popping up again the following season without much effort.

Calendula has also been well regarded in Western herbal medicine for centuries, particularly for supporting skin health. During my first pregnancy I had so much growing that I dried the flowers, infused them in olive oil for a few months and made my own nappy balm.

Now, when my edible garden isn't offering much else, I love making the most of calendula. I often pick the flowers for mini jars around the house, while the petals get scattered over salads, eggs and pasta dishes, adding a pop of colour and nutrients with very little effort.

We often prize only certain parts of a plant, when in fact so much more is edible. Fresh herbs and edible flowers can all find a place on the plate and, when picked straight from the garden, they're often at their most nutrient-dense.

Onion Chives

For those who have followed me for a while, you'll probably roll your eyes at this one and think, "Yes, we know you love chives." But for those who are new here, this is why they're one of my favourite plants.

Firstly, they're perennial, which is a big tick for lazy gardeners. Plant them once and they'll keep coming back year after year. They're hardy and can handle neglect.

Chives are also closely related to their wild ancestors and have changed relatively little through modern cultivation. Plants that remain closer to their wild relatives often retain high concentrations of protective compounds, and chives are no exception. As members of the allium family, they're rich in sulphur-containing compounds, along with a range of beneficial phytonutrients.

Like many herbs, chives begin to lose some of their nutritional value soon after harvest, so the best time to enjoy them is straight from the garden. I snip them over eggs, soups, salads, vegetables and pretty much anything savoury.

Leave a few to flower. The flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects, and they're edible too. I scatter both chive flowers and calendula petals over meals whenever I can. Diversity matters in the garden and on the plate.

Spring Onions

Lastly, spring onions. I think they're one of the easiest edible plants you can grow because you don't even need to buy seeds or visit a garden centre.

The next time you buy a bunch of spring onions, preferably organic and with the roots still attached, cut the stems about 3 to 5 cm above the roots. Make a small hole in a pot or garden bed, plant the roots with a little of the white stem still showing, firm the soil around them and give them a water. Within a week or two you'll usually see fresh green shoots emerging.

When you need them, simply snip off what you want, leaving a few centimetres above the base, and they'll continue to regrow several times before eventually needing replacing.

Spring onions belong to the allium family alongside onions, garlic, leeks and chives, a group well known for its sulphur-containing compounds that support both flavour and health. I use the whole plant, including the green tops, which are often the most nutrient-dense part. Research comparing spring onions with mature bulb onions has found they can contain around 100 times more phytonutrients than the mature onions most of us typically buy. Like many leafy vegetables and herbs, they also begin to lose some of their nutritional value after harvest, making them one of those foods that really shines when picked fresh from the garden and taken straight to the plate. They end up in our eggs, stir-fries, soups and salads most weeks.

Whether your garden is overflowing with vegetables or consists of a single pot of chives on a windowsill, growing something changes the way you see food, the seasons and the natural world. You start to notice what is in flower, what is ready to harvest, and what the birds and insects are doing around you. A small act of gardening may seem insignificant, but caring for a plant is often another way of caring for yourself.

Excerpt from Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent

Women grow to create life and food and beauty. Women grow because it's in their bones. Women grow to pass on power. To honour the knowledge their foremothers have gathered for centuries. Women grow because the earth can swallow feelings that the air can't. Women grow because sometimes rage can only be mollified by digging until the sweat trickles down their back. Women grow because it offers them control in a world determined to rid them of it.

Further Exploring

Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Learn about the traditional uses of Indigenous bush foods, their cultural significance, and how many of these remarkable plants are finding their place in modern Australian kitchens.

Sydney Edible Garden Trail
One weekend each year, dozens of Sydney home gardeners open their edible gardens to the public. It's one of the best ways to gather practical ideas, meet like-minded growers and see what can be achieved in backyards of every size.

Plant a Street Tree
Many councils across Australia offer free or subsidised street tree planting programs. If there's room on your nature strip, it's worth checking what your local council offers. On Sydney's Northern Beaches, residents can request a street tree through the Northern Beaches Council.

Monty Don's Gardens of the World
A three-part travel and gardening documentary series exploring how climate, culture and history have shaped gardens across the globe.

Why Women Grow, Alice Vincent
A thoughtful exploration of gardening, grief, identity and why so many women are drawn to growing.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Holly Ringland
A beautifully written Australian novel where native flowers and the language of plants are woven through themes of family, resilience and healing.

SOIL, Matthew Evans
An engaging exploration of the hidden world beneath our feet and why healthy soil underpins healthy food, healthy ecosystems and healthy people.

The Gift of Good Land, Wendell Berry
A collection of essays reflecting on farming, stewardship, community and our relationship with the land.

The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants, Georgina Reid
A collection of essays exploring gardens, plants, creativity and our connection to the natural world. If you can find a copy, Georgina Reid's Wonderground magazines are also well worth seeking out.

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