29/03/2016
Medieval Gardens: Middle Ages to 1500
In the Middle Ages, gardens were mainly used by monasteries and manor houses, and they therefore dictated the garden style of this period. Plants needed on a regular basis were cultivated and herbs were grown for medicine; gardens were also an important source of food.
Herbs were cultivated in the ‘physic garden’ (healing gardens) and were laid out in strictly controlled rectangular beds, while orchards, fishponds and dovecotes provided the food.
The monastery gardens included a secluded garden which provided a quiet, meditative area for the monks. In royal palaces and manor houses however, secluded gardens were used as an area for a garden of erotic delights. (A very good example of the sacred and profane.)
Gardens were enclosed within wattle fences or quickthorn hedges, and scented flowers and herbs were grown in raised beds. Privacy and shade were created by the use of trellis walkways and arbours, and carefully placed fountains provided the relaxing sound of water.
Elements of a Medieval Garden:
• Wattle fences or quickthorn hedges enclosing the gardens,
• Walkways and arbours created out of trellises for privacy and shade,
• Raised beds were used to prevent plants becoming waterlogged,
• Grass treated as a meadow planted with low growing wild flowers,
• Turf seats usually built against a wall overlooking grass planted with flowers,
• Physic gardens consisting of medicinal herbs planted in neat, orderly beds,
• Apple orchards to provide fruit for the kitchen and for making cider,
• Fish ponds and stew ponds (where fish were purged of muddy water before cooking) to ensure a regular supply of protein during the many fast days of the Christian calendar and during winter,
• Dovecotes to provide pigeons for food, as well as feathers for cushions and dung for fertilizing the garden. Messenger pigeons were also used for communication across long distances,
• Ornamental parks for sport (archery, tennis, an early form of bowling and a primitive form of badminton using a ball and paddles), recreation (hawking) and relaxation.
Certain elements of the Medieval Garden are being introduced more and more into our gardens today. As our awareness of the various healing properties of herbs increases, more gardens have a dedicated herb garden and the demand for different types of herbs is increasing. Concerns about the rising costs and the quality of vegetables being grown today has seen an increase in home-grown vegetables. The practice of companion planting is gaining popularity as a natural way to protect vegetables from natural pests; certainly an excellent practice to reduce the amount of pesticides being used.
(There has been a proliferation of articles covering the Senate S 510 Bill : Food Safety Modernization Act, 2010 claiming that the US government intends to ban home-grown foods and livestock. These articles are extremely interesting and certainly raise reasons for concern. These bills currently only effect the US, but I believe it’s always advisable to be cognisant of world trends. The following websites have thought-provoking commentary on this subject if you’re interested: http://www.infowars.com/senate-bill-s510-makes-it-illegal-to-grow-share-trade-or-sell-homegrown-food/
http://guardianlv.com/2014/05/personal-gardening-and-farming-are-becoming-illegal/, http://www.permanentculturenow.com/are-governments-attempting-to-stop-citizens-from-growing-their-own-food. )
The use of healing gardens is an area in which I have a great interest. This is a topic for another article however, so watch this space.
