The Medieval Garden

It is difficult to know exactly what medieval gardens looked like as, unlike the 16th C and beyond, there aren’t many written records from this era. Knowledge has had to be gained from bits and pieces of records, poems, tapestries, artwork and archeological studies. The Medieval period spans a rather broad timespan as well, ranging from 800 A.D. to the 15th C.

However, thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated garden historians, we can identify the key landscape elements and some of the main plants that were favourites of the time (many of which are still available).

Two of the most common types of gardens in late medieval times were the "herber" or small, enclosed garden, and the "flowery mead"- a grassy area spotted with natural plantings of meadow flowers. Both can be replicated by modern gardeners.

The Herber

This was usually a small space enclosed with fencing, with turf seats around the perimeter and fragrant herbs planted within. The herber was meant as a place of relaxation, of retreat. Its design tended to be fairly formal and symmetrical. The main ingredient in this area would be herbs, and the more fragrant the better (after all, hygiene was not the best in those days!). Plantings were usually done in raised, rectangular beds with plank walls. Each bed would have a variety of herbs planted within as well as roses (lots!) and lilies. Paths between the beds would be of gravel or sand, and there might be a central fountain.

If you were trying to recreate a herber, you might enclose your space with wattle fencing (bent twigs interwoven - watch for an upcoming article explaining how to construct them!), or more pragmatically, cedar rail fencing. The more affluent amongst you might like to build a brick wall to enclose their herber.

One component you absolutely must re-create is the turf seat. This is made by using bricks, planks, cement landscaping blocks (decidedly not medieval, but practical ) to build up a seating area into which you pile dirt. On top of the dirt you lay sod or plant grass. When the grass grows, keep it trimmed, and voila! you have a "turf seat"! I understand they’re actually quite comfortable (except immediately after a downpour). Turf seats could be constructed around the entire perimeter of the herber, or perhaps in a corner or two.

Roses were very popular in late medieval times although there was limited variety, and the plant list at the end of this article provides the names of some of those that still survive. Try planting climbing roses to tumble over your wall, or to clamber up trellises or arbours. Wood structures were very popular with medieval gardeners.

The Flowery Mead

As hard as it was for me to believe, medieval gardeners actually really loved short, cropped grass! I had thought mown grass was a 20th century invention, but how wrong I was! Achieving that cropped look, however, was no easy matter in the 12th - 15th centuries, and was accomplished through some poor sod (no pun intended) hand-scything the whole area. Today, the challenge of creating a flowery mead is to not cut the lawn too much or too short, so as to allow the flowers to grow and bloom.

Flowery meads were essentially meadows, or grassy areas, studded with flowers - most particularly English daisies, primroses, forget-me-nots, violets, daffodils, cowslips, wild strawberries and cornflowers. For pragmatic reasons, you may want to concentrate on spring-blooming flowers that will allow you to mow the grass by mid-summer before it gets too long and wild-looking. Flowers growing in the mead would tend to be in scattered plantings, with different plants intermingled with each other. This is what would happen if they naturalized, and will look more authentic than planting in solid groups or Jekyllian "drifts". This type of garden is perhaps more appropriate to a slightly larger property than would be needed to create the herber.

Medieval Plants

For the flowery mead, try these:

• Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)
• Cowslip (Primula veris)
• Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis)
• Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
• Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)
• English Daisy (Bellis perennis)
• Violet (a number of varieties)
• Heartsease (Viola tricolour)
• Daffodils (Narcissus poeticus)
• Plantains (Plantago)

For the herber, one could grow:

• Sweet Basil
• Dill
• Garlic
• Sweet Marjoram
• Vervain
• Poppy
• varieties of Campion (Lychnis)
• early varieties of Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)
• Lemon Balm
• Borage
• Feverfew
• Chives
• Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus)
• Hollyhock
• Hyssop
• Mint
• Rue
• Sage
• Southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum)
• Sweet Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)
• Chamomile
• Lavender (Lavendula officinalis)
• Thyme
• White Lily (Lilium candidum)
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
• Yarrow (Achillea)
• Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)
• Mullein (Verbascum spp.)
• Good King Henry (Chenopodium bonus-henricus)
• Fennel
• Lupin
• Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
• Calendula
• Roses
• Rosa alba
• Rosa gallica
• Rosa canina
• Rosa damascena