How to Plant a Knot Garden

Knot gardens are formal gardens proportionally designed. They create geometric patterns from the plants utilized and are a beauty to behold. Miniature hedges of varying types and hues are used and carefully trimmed to form the precise design wanted. Knot gardens use other plants (often herbs or flowers and vegetables) as well to add color, contrast, texture and smell to them. The following steps detail how to plant a knot garden.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Location
• Colored pencils
• Graph paper
• Hedges (One or more contrasting varieties)
• Plants (herbs, flowers, vegetables)
• Shovel
• Soil
• Compost
• String (rope or chalk)
• Water

1. Decide on the knot garden location. This type of garden is usually best observed from above, so select an area that you can gaze down on. The site needs to be level and large enough for the design. Most knot gardens can be scaled up or down in size to fit the location you choose. You can also add to it later on, for this reason you may want to have available space around it.

2. Create your knot garden design. The “original” knot gardens looked like the interweaved strands of ancient Celtic knotwork, but it truly is up to you as what pattern you want to see in your knot garden. You can find all kinds of ideas by doing searches online, visiting other knot gardens, reading up on them or even by connecting with fellow knot gardeners that can be found worldwide. Draw your design on graph paper using a different color per plant species or have someone else do it.

3. Ready the soil. Prior to planting the knot garden be sure to prepare the soil. Add adequate compost and additional soil, if needed. If you are using any plants that require specific nutrients, be sure to add them to the soil. Use string, rope or chalk to draw out the pattern on the readied soil. Now you can decide on the specific plants and how many of each will be needed.

4. Pick the plants for the knot garden. There are endless selections of hedges that can be used and it will mostly depend on your location concerning which ones will work best in a knot garden. Select hedges that can be easily trimmed and shaped and come in various colors and textures. The plants can range from annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables or a combination of them. Pick the ones that will grow easily in your region and under the conditions present. Most box gardens are designed in full sun areas, but if you do not have this available, you will have to choose plants that will thrive without as much sun.

5. Place the plants in the knot garden. Plant all of the plants in their spots and be sure to leave room for them to grow. Once all plants are in place, water them thoroughly.