Making Your Own Knot Garden Design

 

Knot garden design is a type of English garden design which developed during sixteenth century, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and influenced garden design well into the seventeenth century and beyond. The formal design was usually grown using a variety of herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, chamomile and others, which were grown in hedges forming a knot. The hedges were separated by paths of gravel.

Although typically English there are knot gardens found in other areas of the United Kingdom, such as at Muchalls Castle in Scotland, the USA, such as the Alexandra Hicks Herb Knot Garden in Michigan, and as far away as New Zealand (Anzac Square, Dunedin). Modern knot gardens tend to use box as the hedging as it is slow growing and the variety Buxus sempervirens has foliage which expels a sweet smell when crushed or bruised. Strictly speaking gardens using box in knot garden design are actually examples of Parterres which developed during the seventeenth century.

Starting On Your Own Knot Garden Design

If you are planning on creating the perfect knot garden you will need to stick to the principles of the sixteenth century. This means that the knots will need to be angular and you will need to use the herbs mentioned above and some of the others which were used during this time. Ideally you will need to research the project greatly to ensure that you knot garden design adheres to the rules. You can do this by searching out photographs of famous examples such as those found at St Fagans museum of country life in south Wales or the Knot Garden at the Red Lodge Museum in Bristol (Wikipedia has a couple of photos).

You may also wish to look at examples of Parterres on Wiki. If you are willing to experiment a little to create a garden of your own, loosely influenced by the typical knot garden design, you may wish to take a look at some of the many Celtic knot designs seen in Celtic art and in knot rings.

There are a couple of benefits to using this type of design for your garden. For those opting for a traditional design you have the great bonus of fresh herbs and those who opt to use Box will benefit by the slow growing habit of this shrub which means it is a low maintenance garden design. Although grass can be used by using gravel paths you can further cut down the workload.

 

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