These had features such as flower beds, arbours, turf seats and high mounds, which gave a view over the castle walls. Outside the castle walls were orchards and ‘little parks’, areas for walking planted with ornamental trees.

The rich had both the land and the money to have productive gardens and also some garden spaces devoted entirely to pleasure and relaxation. These were still enclosed but were more informal and included flower beds, fruit trees, turf seats, fountains and often a flowery mead, a lawn of fine grasses studded with small flowering plants such as daisies, speedwell and violets. Scent was important too, either from flowers or herbs.

While the privacy these gardens provided meant they became associated with romantic love, religious symbolism came to associate the hortus conclusus (latin for enclosed garden) with the Virgin Mary. Works of art often showed her and the Christ child seated in this type of enclosed garden.

So what about medieval peasants, who after all made up most of the population? What did they grow in their small gardens? Mostly vegetables. Many, such as leeks, onions, peas and beans are still grown as food plants today but others have fallen out of favour. For example skirret, a root vegetable, now supplanted by the potato, colewort, a non-head forming cabbage, grown before the heading types were developed, and rampions, which had edible roots and leaves. 

A few medicinal herbs would also have been grown and as well as being useful would have provided some beauty and ornament with their flowers.