The Medieval Garden

by Landsberg, Sylvia

• ISBN13: 9780802086600
• ISBN10: 0802086608
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

As well as food and medicine, the medieval garden provided pleasure, repose and refreshment to the senses. From detailed manuscript descriptions and illustrations, Sylvia Landsberg builds up a picture of the various styles of garden from the small enclosed herber with plant borders, turf benches, and rose-covered trellises, to the vast cultivated parks of royalty and nobility. Amongst the species she finds in a fifteenth-century plant inventory are the familiar violet, lily and columbine, sage, basil and sorrel, pear, apple and vine, all still available to the modern gardener.Combining her historical knowledge with practical experience of recreating medieval gardens in various sites in England, Landsberg explains how she designed Queen Eleanor's garden at Winchester and Brother Cadfael's physic garden at Shrewsbury. She gives detailed descriptions of layouts, the measurements of beds, and the types of tools required. Landsberg also presents the marvelous medieval gardeners calendar, illustrated in the twelve 'Occupations of the Months.' Uniquely, the book offers practical advice on how to create typical medieval features, making it an interesting and unusual gift for any keen gardener.

Author Biography

Sylvia Landsberg is a garden historian and lecturer and has re-created several twelfth to sixteenth-century gardens.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(10)
Types of Medieval Garden	11	(8)
Garden Features	19	(55)
The Plants	74	(12)
The Practice of Medieval Gardening	86	(15)
Medieval Gardens Re-Created	101	(30)
Make your own Medieval Garden	131	(8)
Places to Visit	139	(1)
Bibliography	140	(1)
Acknowledgements	141	(1)
Index of Plants	142	(1)
Illustrations Credits	143	(1)
General Index	143