Elements of an English Knot Garden

By J. A. Young

English knot gardens find their roots in gardens of the Medieval era when they were first cultivated. With hundreds of potential variations, the essence of an English knot garden lies in its beds that are designed in patterns reminiscent of knots. These elaborate ornamental gardens could be arranged on both a large and small scale. They require a great deal of maintenance in most cases, but they make for the most extraordinary gardens. Incorporating a knotted bed design into any landscape requires lots of design consideration and careful plant selection, but for gardeners who love a challenge, an English knot garden combines gardening expertise with a pleasing aesthetic.

If you live in a two-story home (or higher) an English knot garden provides all the visual appeal your garden will need. When seen from above, the garden forms an intricate arrangement that is maze-like. However, rather than a random maze or labyrinthine pattern, these designs resemble knotted geometric designs. Paths intersect beds, and raised mounds appear to tunnel in and around an area to form a typical knot design - as an example. Essentially such gardens were termed open or closed knot gardens. Open gardens might allow for strolling, while tightly planted closed gardens did not.

To plant an English knot garden today, one might replicate a garden from Queen Elizabeth's Tudor era or take a few design liberties and invent something more unique. You will want to consider plants and materials in any case. Box evergreen, rosemary, lavender and phlox are some traditional choices, but any plants might be tried. Typically, the beds would not be edged by anything like stone or wood, but to make your garden easier to maintain, you might consider edging each bed with decorative stone or railroad ties. Otherwise, you may have to work much harder to attain that manicured look.

It may be an interesting feature to alternate low beds with raised beds and fill some beds with plants and other beds with decorative gravel or topiary, for instance. If your English knot garden has a middle focal point, you might install a statue - a stone lion on a raise of bricks, a small pond or a fountain. For a simple design plan, consider a square with its four corners designed with circular beds, a middle circle and a low-growing ornamental grass filling in the rest of the square.

English knot gardens make wonderful additions to formal gardens - especially if one may view its overall effect from a terrace or upper story. Tudor knot gardens are less formal and ornate than French Parterres and knots of the Renaissance, but are somehow more accessible. The use of herbs and common plants gives the English knot garden its requisite charm. For design ideas, check out books about English woodcuts and architectural designs of the Tudor period.