The cultivation of arnica in the garden

Content

• The cultivation of arnica in the garden
• The commercial cultivation of arnica
• A plant with low demands
• Pick the perfect location for arnica in the garden
• Tips

Arnica is a low maintenance plant for the garden

The cultivation of arnica in the garden

The arnica (Arnica montana) has been used for centuries in natural medicine, so collecting flowers for centuries has almost led to the eradication of many stocks. Although the wild variety is still difficult to exploit for commercial cultivation, it can be a pretty ornament in the private garden.

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The commercial cultivation of arnica

In earlier centuries, the medicinal properties of arnica have been overestimated, with the toxic effects of certain ingredients being ignored. Nowadays arnica is no longer officially approved for internal use and should no longer be used to prepare teas due to its hazardous nature. However, there are several symptoms that are used to alleviate aqueous extracts and tinctures from the collected arnica flowers:

Therefore, in recent years, new varieties have been bred for commercial cultivation on site in order to replace the imports of flowers from ecologically questionable wild collections abroad.

A plant with low demands

The real arnica has no particularly high standards, but is not easy to settle anywhere. Although it is due to occurrence in up to 2,800 m altitude as a mountain plant, but grows well in not too cold and dry valleys satisfactorily. In nature, arnica plants often occur in sparse forests and non-fertilized meadows, which can sometimes lead to confusion with visually similar neighboring plants. The seeds of arnica have the dandelion similar small umbrellas, which make possible a spread with the wind or over wild animals. They should not be covered with earth as light germs, but can be secured against drifting with a bit of hay or grass clippings.

Pick the perfect location for arnica in the garden

Although the arnica does not make high demands on the soil, but tolerates waterlogging and calcareous soils only very bad. If necessary, you must therefore help with some peat in order to have a slightly acidic soil environment for the arnica in the pot or in the bed. Lean soils should not and should not be fertilized. Choose a location that is as sunny as possible or at least partially shaded. Since the arnica usually blooms only in the third year, you should plan the plant accordingly with care in the look of the garden.

Tips

For some people with allergies, planting arnica in the garden can be tricky as the plant can cause rashes with blistering.