Planting and maintaining your knot

Knot gardens require regular trimming to keep them in shape, but otherwise they can be quite low maintenance considering they have good structure that lasts all year round.

Box hedges: The best-value plants are often bareroot buxus, which are sold and dispatched in winter. These also tend to establish more easily than their container-grown counterparts. Plant them evenly 30-40cm (12-16in) apart, at the same depth as they were previously grown. It’s worth planting a few ‘spares’ in pots or a nursery bed in case any fail and you need to infill.

Herbs: These are best planted as young specimens so they fill out well at the base, rather than being top heavy.

Clipping: Box plants generally need clipping twice a season (March and August), depending on how quickly they grow. For denser plants, clip more often. This is ideally done using power clippers or hand shears, laying a sheet on the ground to collect the offcuts. You can also use a soft brush to remove cut shoots from the top of the hedge. Herbs also need to be clipped regularly to ensure the plants bush out well.

Soil type: This doesn’t matter too much but do avoid heavy, wet ground because this may encourage fungal diseases that can kill woody plants. Lighter soils can be improved by digging in organic matter to reduce the amount of watering required.