Formal Knot-Style Garden at Garden Museum London

Restoration of Seventeenth-century Formal Garden Lambeth Palace Road

Feb 3, 2009

Decorative arts of the sixteenth and seventeenth century inspired knot gardens. Garden historians can visit Garden Museum's knot-style garden, being restored, in London.

Knot gardens are important in British garden history research, "these were usually set out on square plots near the house, divided by paths into quarters, with patterned arrangements in each compartment . . . the fashion was peculiarly British and stoutly long-lasting" writes Jenny Uglow in A Little History of British Gardening (Chatto & Windus London, 2004). At Sandringham Estate, visitors will be informed of the place of knots and parterres in the history of the royal gardens. The Shakespeare Gardens in Stratford-upon-Avon, include an Elizabethan-style Knot Garden at Nash's House & New Place.

Knots and Parterres in British Gardens and Gardening

Knots and parterres are introduced in The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), edited by Christopher Brickell, as "highly developed type of formal gardening in which control of the planting is absolute. In knot gardens, intricate planting patterns are confined by an edging of dwarf, clipped evergreen shrubs such as box (Buxus sempervirens) . . . offer year-round structure that is of particular value in winter."

Based in the former St Mary-at-Lambeth parish Church, the Garden Museum has the tomb of the gardeners, to Charles I, John Tradescants, in its grounds and a seventeenth-century formal knot-style garden for visitors to appreciate. The garden's edging, in a dwarf variety of Buxus sempervirens, is in the process of being restored and has shown considerable resilience to environmental threats.

The Garden Museum grounds are close to Lambeth Palace and noctural visitors to the formal knot-style garden has included a local fox making its way around the Lambeth Bridge and Palace area. Fox activity partially explains some of the damage to the Buxus sempervirens with other parts of the edging needing repair due damage caused by fungal infection.

Serious garden enthusiasts will appreciate the labelling of London's Garden Museum's gardens plants with their botanical names. Like other formal and informal British gardens, seasonal interest will vary and visitors in February to April this year will capture some of the Winter interest planting before Spring's flowering plants.

The Garden Museum (Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7LB United Kingdom +44 20 7401 8865) is closed every Monday and open Tuesday to Sunday 10.30am to 5pm. Entrance to the museum including the current exhibitions is £6 for adults and free for full-time students, carers of disabled people and children under 16. Tickets costing £5 are available to some individuals including senior citizens and group discounts are available.

The front gardens by the entrance to St Mary-at-Lambeth parish Church include a wildlife garden and the back gardens, including the formal knot-style garden, is located on the ground floor past the downstairs gallery and the bookshop through the vegetarian cafe and the potting shed area in an enclosed gardens area.

Visitors can become a Friend of the Museum. Further details are available direct from the Garden Museum in London about volunteering opportunities for gardeners and horticultural students in the Garden Museum gardens.

The copyright of the article Formal Knot-Style Garden at Garden Museum London in Public Gardens is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Formal Knot-Style Garden at Garden Museum London in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.