How to Design a Medieval Garden

Design your garden with multipurpose functions in mind. There should be segregated areas for vegetables as well as culinary and medicinal herbs, an orchard and a spot for the gardener to sit in quiet contemplation.

Select plants that were available during the Medieval period. Plants mentioned in plays such as Hamlet (rue) or featured in paintings (apothecary rose, lavender) or songs such as Scarborough Fair (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) are good choices for a Medieval garden.

Build fencing around the edges of the garden. Medieval gardens didn't utilize decorative borders the way modern gardens do. Often the Medieval gardener had to contend with both domestic and wild animals. Borders were often constructed of wattle or board fencing. To create a wattle fence, drive sturdy willow sticks into the ground. Weave smaller, springier sticks around them for an authentic wattle fence look.

Elevate beds for vegetables and herbs. There is ample evidence that medieval gardens utilized raised beds that were 1 foot by 2 feet in length. You can border these beds with stone or wattle. You can build winding paths made of grass, dirt, gravel or stone paving between the beds.

Construct trellises or arbors for grapes and roses. You can use other frames for topiary plants, including rosemary.

Plant fruit trees along borders or in geometric patterns spaced 20 feet apart.

Construct seats by piling dirt next to wattle fencing and planting it with aromatic ground cover. Tufted seats, or excedra, were a major feature of "gardens of pleasure." They were often planted with grass or herbs that released pleasant odors when crushed, such as Corsican mint.

Add a water feature. Although statuary was not a common feature of the Medieval garden, water features including wells, cisterns, pools or flowing springs were incorporated as a natural source of irrigation. You can re-create these water features by using a commercially-available pond or pool form.