How to Create a Knot Garden

Creating the Design

• 1

  Determine how much space you will have for your garden. A small space, for example six feet square to eight feet square, must have a very simple design. For a larger space, you can plan more intricate patterns.

• 2

  Pencil in a first draft plan on grid paper with fairly large squares. Plan the borders first and then develop a pattern to fit within the border. For ideas, look at pictures of existing knot gardens on the Internet or in gardening books. Some people draw inspiration from fabrics or quilts.

• 3

  Finalize your design and mark each area with the name of the plant that will best show off your pattern. Boxwood is generally used for the border. For long, straight lines within the pattern, you will probably choose to include plants or shrubs with foliage of distinctive shades of green, purple or gray.

• 4

  Consider filling the open spaces between longer lines or inside the loops of your knot garden with different herbs, flowers, or even gravel or stones of a pleasing color. Some people choose to place a different herb in each square.

Planting the Knot Garden

• 5

  Stake the corners of your garden and string a line between them to make sure the borders are even. Then use a garden tiller to prepare the area for your knot garden. Add bone meal and any other products recommended to enhance the soil in your area.

• 6

  Soak bare root plants as directed by the grower.

• 7

  Lay out each shrub or bush according to your knot garden design. Place each one in the soil individually rather than creating a furrow for several plants at once.

• 8

  Water gently after the planting, just enough to assure that all air pockets have been eliminated and that your garden has some moisture.

Maintain Your Knot Garden

• 9

  Water your knot garden regularly and remove weeds.

• 10

  Add topical fertilizer after plants have settled into the soil, about three to four weeks.

• 11

  Prune shrubs as necessary to maintain the knot garden pattern.