Not a Knot Garden

When I first began to garden, one of the To Do's on my list was a Knot Garden. I drew up plans and even began to price plants. The dream lasted for quite a few years as one of those Someday projects.

Someday I'll have the time, the money . . . but then I realized that without major bulldozer work I also didn't have a large  flat area near the house to accommodate the garden of my dreams.  Ah, well...

But I was determined at least to have a herb garden -- parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme -- as well as dill, rue, lovage,  tarragon, fennel, basil, oregano, pineapple sage, cilantro, catnip,, bay, pineapple sage, perilla, and clary sage ... 

Most of these are in what we call the Box Garden -- not tiny hedges of perfectly trimmed boxwood, alas. but eight long boxes of soil.
The herbs are above the wall and in the four end boxes while the four center boxes are used for vegetables -- this year they hold  lettuce, beets, onions, sweet potatoes, collards and broccoli. 
It's not elegant like a knot garden but it's do-able  -- and it suits our rural idiom. The bay laurel and rosemary are in pots, as they must winter over in the greenhouse.
The bay below was a tiny sprig in a cup when I bought it about twenty -five years ago. 
 Willowbrook Park blog (from New Zealand) has a nice overview of knot gardens for those of you who might be tempted . . .
Meanwhile, at last I'm putting in a lovely knot garden -- in the book I'm currently writing.