Medieval courtyards were characterized by symmetrical designs with hard and soft landscaping.
The medieval courtyard was the place where peasants and royalty alike grew the herbs, medicines, fruits and vegetables necessary to sustain life. They contained flower meads (or low-growing flowers), fruit trees, trellises and shrubs arranged in a pleasant design usually enclosed with high-growing hedges, trellises, fences or stone walls. Grass or stone pavers created the floor of the courtyard and most courtyards featured fountains. Many courtyards supported raised flowerbeds encased in stone or wood. Typical courtyards sported an equal-armed cross shape if viewed from above, although some also were box-shaped. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Design the Garden
1. Measure the area of your property on which you would like to place a courtyard. This could be in front of, behind or beside the home. Use a distance-measuring wheel to measure a four-armed cross or a box, square or rectangle, shape on the area. Document the measurements.
2. Mark the perimeter for the garden with pegs at the corners of the shape you are making. For a box shape, you will need four pegs; for a cross shape, you will need twelve pegs to mark both the outer and inner corners. Tie a piece of rope to the first peg and wrap the rope around each additional peg to create an outline of the perimeter.
3. Determine the scale so that you can draw your design on the graph paper. If you have a large garden area, use a scale of 1/2-inch, which equals 1 square foot. If you have a small garden area, use a scale or 2 inches on the graph, which equals 1 square foot of garden space.
4. Draw the shape of the courtyard onto the graph paper to the scale that you have determined.
5. Decide what you want to feature in the garden. Symmetry is crucial. If you decide to put a raised flowerbed in one arm of the cross, for instance, you will need to put the same flowerbed in each arm of the cross.
6. Draw your garden design onto the graph paper. Create a stone outer wall and a hedge inner wall around the perimeter. Center a fountain in the middle. Place fruit trees in the far corners with raised beds for herbs or medicinal plants. Create a flower mead, such as pansies, and create a walkway from pavers that enters at a gate and goes directly to the fountain before it trims the fountain and branches out on all sides.
Create the Courtyard
7. Build the outer wall first to create the perimeter. If using stone, a height of four to six feet is acceptable. Leave an opening for a gate at the end of one arm of the cross or in the center of one wall of the box. Attach a wooden gate to the stonewall.
8. Install your fountain at the center. A medieval fountain ranges in shape and design from a simple well (similar to the wishing well design) to a cascading stone structure with sculptural elements.
9. Plant hedges (carpinus betulus, for example) so they trim the outer walls on the inside, creating a nice living design. Use the hedges to create natural dividers in the courtyard, as well, creating walls or sections to divide out areas of the courtyard.
10. Install the trellises where you want them and plant any ivy, clematis, grape or other vine plants close to the bottom of the trellis on either side. Weave the vine through the trellis openings to start the climbing process.
11. Build the raised flowerbeds from stone or logs and fill with soil before planting flowers or herbs. Lay the pavers for the walkway, and plant the grass seed and flower mead around the pavers where you want them. Save the fruit and ornamental trees for last.
Tags: graph paper, will need, area scale, cross shape, equals square, equals square foot, flower mead