Both wealthy and poorer households in Tudor times grew plants. Vegetable, or kitchen gardens are the earliest types of garden, and families grew vegetables and edible plants to supplement their diet, particularly poorer families. The main fruit and vegetable crop was harvested in the autumn.

The Tudor garden contained vegetables, herbs and flowers. Vegetables included leeks, garlic, peas, parsnips, lentils, turnips, beans, onions and spinach. They were not eaten to accompany meat, and very few wealthy people ate any vegetables. Vegetables were used to make pottage, a soup-like meal using milk, eggs and breadcrumbs.

Some flowers were used in food dishes, including violets, primroses, marigolds and lavender. Marigolds were used to give butter a brighter colour if it was too pale for the local market.

There were many more varieties of apples, pears and cherries grown, and other popular fruits included strawberries and gooseberries.

A wealthy household would have a large kitchen garden, not only for food supplies, but to grow more exotic and experimental plant species. The grounds could also include a dovecote, a lake large enough to store live fish, beehives, or skeps, an orchard, a still house for distilling herbs, and a verjuice house for making a vinegar-like liquid from cider apple juice.

A Tudor innovation was the Knot Garden. These were small ornamental spaces, geometric and symmetrical, bordered by dwarf box hedging. They were called knot gardens after the knot and strap work patterns from contemporary English needlework. Threads used in needlework follow a regular over and under weave, and hedges of a variety of species and colours were planted to attempt to copy the over and under woven shape.

Inside each boxed area of hedging, gardeners placed mulches, or gravel or tiny plants. It was the hedges, however, that were the focus, not the internal planting arrangement. Knot Gardens were best viewed from above.

Monasteries contributed to garden development by creating herb, or physic gardens. The monks not only cultivated medicinal and culinary plants, but also researched into growing methods, and the benefits of growing different seeds in a variety of conditions. Thyme was used as a sedative, Sweet Cicely to aid digestion, and Angelica to cure colic.

Wherever people have cultivated the ground, for pleasure or necessity, they have needed tools. Each tool has its own problem to solve, or task to fulfil. Many of the tools the Tudors worked with are still used by us today, although the introduction of plastic in the twentieth century has allowed watering cans and wheelbarrows to be produced in a lighter material for ease of lifting and pushing. Rakes, forks, spades and axes remain almost unchanged. Tools such as scythes, designed to cut grass, have been replaced by the development of the lawn mower.

A common sight during the summer months is a hosepipe and a water sprinkler keeping cricket pitches, crops, allotments and gardens watered during dry periods. For smaller areas such as a window box or a patio tub, a watering can is the solution to transporting water. It is a major challenge to create a container that does not get too heavy when it is full of water but that will hold enough water to make the journey worthwhile.

This Tudor watering bottle is made of clay, and was hand thrown with a rough and partial green glaze. On the front of the bottle is a rose, a circular area pierced with tiny holes, to allow water to pour out gently in order not to flood delicate seedlings. On the other side of the pot there is a handle that allows the carrier to get a firm grip with one hand. The top of the pot is narrow, with a wall pressed out of the clay to form a rough decoration. This prevented water pouring out of the top of the bottle when it was tipped up when very full. The watering bottle holds 3.46 litres of water and would have been filled by a bucket from the well.