For the opera by Michael Tippett, see The Knot Garden.
Knot Garden at St Fagans museum of country life, south Wales
A knot garden is a garden style that was popularized in 16th century England [1]: 60–61 and is now considered an element of the formal English garden. A knot garden consists of a variety of aromatic and culinary herbs, or low hedges such as box, planted in lines to create an intertwining pattern that is set within a square frame and laid on a level substrate. The spaces between these lines are often filled with stone, gravel, sand or flowering plants. Traditional plants used in knot gardens include germander, marjoram, thyme, southernwood, lemon balm, hyssop, costmary, acanthus, mallow, chamomile, rosemary, calendula, viola and santolina.
Most knot gardens now have edges made from box (Buxus sempervirens), which is easily cut into dense miniature hedges, and stays green during winters when not all of the "filling" plants are visible or attractive. However, the original designs of knot gardens did not use low box hedges until the late 17th century[1]: 60–61
Historically, knot gardens were located close to English manor houses so that the inhabitants and guests would have a bird's eye view of the intricate designs from the upper story windows.[1]: 31 Most gardens were composed of square compartments set within frames. A small garden might consist of one compartment, while large gardens might contain six or eight compartments. The interior knot pattern could be composed of bands of plants in contrasting colours which are hedged to look like they weave over and under each other. In which case, the knot is referred to as "closed". When knots have bands of plants that do not appear to be interlacing, they are referred to as "open".[2]
The term knot garden is closely tied to the term parterre. During the 17th century, these terms were used interchangeably as they often are today.[3][4] A knot garden, however, technically refers to a garden designed with an interweaving pattern whereas "parterre" is a later French term that refers to all formal arrangement of beds.[5]
^ abcWhalley, Robin; Jennings, Anne (1998). Knot Gardens and Parterres: The History of the Knot Garden and How to Make One Today. London: Barn Elms Publishing. ISBN 1-899531-041.
^Swanson, Faith; Rady, Virginia (1984). Herb Garden Design. Hanover: University Press of New England. p. 84. ISBN 0-87451-296-4.
^Whalley, Robin; Jennings, Anne (1998). Knot Gardens and Parterres: The History of the Knot Garden and How to Make One Today. London: Barn Elms Publishing. p. 64. ISBN 1-899531-041.
^Hanmer, Thomas (1650–1664). Garden Book. The National Library of Wales.
^Mader, Gunter; Neubert-Mader, Laila (1992). The English Formal Garden: Five Centuries of Design. London: Aurum Press Ltd. p. 86. ISBN 1-85410-473 X.
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between the hedgings of open knots whereas closed knots were filled with single colored flowers. The knot and parterre gardens were always placed on level...
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Richard Newcourt's map of 1658) the Hattons had laid out as a walled knotgarden with a central fountain, lay north of that up to Hatton Wall. Hatton...
compartments of French Renaissance gardens, what are called in England "knotgardens". Later, in the 17th century Baroque garden, they became more elaborate...
after 1965: The Shires Suite (1970), The KnotGarden (1970) and the Symphony No. 3 (1972). In The KnotGarden Mellers discerns Tippett's "wonderfully acute"...
re-creation. As there were no surviving records of the layout of the original knotgarden, it was replanted according to a pattern published in the 17th century...
a herb garden, topiary, a fruit orchard, an arbour, a walled garden, and a 'knot' garden. Grade II* listed buildings in South Staffordshire Listed buildings...
herbaceous plants. Flower gardens are sometimes tied in function to other kinds of gardens, like knotgardens or herb gardens, many herbs also having decorative...
displays and outdoor plantings: Alexandra Hicks Herb KnotGarden - modern version of a Tudor period garden, with hedges of the yew (Taxus x media 'hicksii')...
garden would be a box-trimmed hedge lining or enclosing a carefully laid out flowerbed or garden bed of simple geometric shape, such as a knotgarden...
and Frank Martin's Der Sturm in 1955. Michael Tippett's 1971 opera The KnotGarden contains various allusions to The Tempest. In Act 3, a psychoanalyst...
William Andrews Nesfield advised on a formal flower garden on the south side of the house. A knotgarden has been added in the 20th century and was illustrated...
listed building. The Victorian gardens were renovated in the 20th and 21st centuries and contain a knotgarden, a rose garden and a Gothic orangery built...
the UK, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with roles in Parsifal, Jenůfa and The KnotGarden, and the English National Opera in The Makropulos...
plan for the cathedral close and Nellie B. Allen designed a knotgarden for the Bishop's Garden. After Bodley died in 1907, his partner Henry Vaughan revised...
walled 'knot' garden at Bryn Bras Castle (Grade II) (22258)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 18 February 2023. Cadw. "Walled 'knot' garden at...
authentic remains of Henry VIII's gardens, merely a small knotgarden, planted in 1924, which hints at the gardens' 16th-century appearance. Today, the...
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