Welcome to the Walled Garden at Markshall, a horticultural paradise nestled within our historic grounds. This tranquil and peaceful haven offers a stunning array of flowers and plants, making it a must-visit for garden enthusiasts and nature lovers alike.
The Longest Double Herbaceous Border in Essex
Longest Double Herbaceous Border in Essex
One of the highlights of the Walled Garden is the longest double herbaceous border in Essex. This stunning feature spans a considerable length, offering a magnificent display of perennials, shrubs, and ornamental grasses.
The Walled Garden offers a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Wander along the pathways, listen to the birdsong, and take in the sights and scenery.
The Wavy Hedge Garden
History of the garden and the seasons
Originally the walled garden was created to supply the family with fruit, vegetables and fragrant blooms for their table. Currently the garden combines traditional and contemporary planting through a series of five separate gardens, emphasising the flow of the four seasons. With an impressive collection of plants that provide interest and beauty throughout these seasons.
The first garden symbolises the start of the season with early spring interest. Next, The wavy hedge garden, featuring Choiysa tenata, symbolises energy flow through the garden. This garden is planted with spring interest in mind.
The Linear Garden
The Central Garden
In the centre of the walled garden you will find the linear garden. Nestled under the canopy of the Amelanchier lamarckii ‘robin hill’. This garden is the perfect place to rest in the shade on a hot summers day. The planting follows a blue colour pallet and is planted in lines.
The Wavy Wall Garden
The Late Summer Garden
Travel into the fourth garden where the thread has become an undulating stonewall and the planting is fiery with red, orange, gold and yellow, which lasts well into autumn. As you enter the final, fifth garden, make sure to look for the secret maze hidden inside the hedge. This final garden also contains a deep slate pool, which symbolise nutrients disappearing back into the earth, marking the end of the cycle.
The Longest Double Herbaceous Border in Essex
Exciting Developments
We are constantly refreshing sections of the Walled Garden, ensuring that it continues to be a source of beauty and inspiration. Transforming it with new plants, designs, and adding to the garden’s allure and diversity. So make sure to visit regularly to see the changes and new plant additions.
Best time to visit
This Walled Garden is designed for spring and summer interest, so you should definitely plan your visit then. However, the Walled Garden remains open throughout the year, with access through the rear gate and onto the hard pathed areas of the garden in the winter months. The grass pathed areas are roped off, in order to protect the ground and to prepare it for the next season as we want it looking its best for you.
Plan your visitMeet the team
William – Senior Horticulturist
William – Senior Horticulturist
A 1st Class BSc Horticulture graduate from Writtle University College, William brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for gardening. With previous experience as a gardener at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a lifelong love of horticulture, William is excited to develop the walled gardens and update the planting schemes.
Ruth – Horticulturist & Propagator
Ruth – Horticulturist & Propagator
As an RHS Level 2 certificate holder from Writtle University College, Ruth has a vast knowledge of proagation and nursery production. Her main passion is growing vegetables and herbs and her aim is to develop the nursey area and vegetable patches behind the scenes at Markshall. She is also passionate about educating the public on how to grow vegetables at home.
Current updates from the walled garden team
November in the walled garden is a time where things settle down a die back for winter. This gives us time trim back and prepare the garden for next year. Jobs include pruning the roses, dividing perennials, repairing the lawns and reducing the size of some of the larger shrubs. It is also the perfect time to start planting new trees and other plants in the garden as they will have moisture in the soil, in order to develop their root system before next summer. We are also using this time to develop areas of the garden. The main winter project this year is the development of the earth sculpture garden. This garden had started to cause some maintenance issues, in recent dry summers, the grass on the sculpture would dry out due to it being on a slope, as well rats had also found the large soil structure and had started to call it home. We have exciting plans to plant this area up with white birch trees underplanted with snowdrops. This will continue the theme of the original design which was to be an early spring interest garden and symbolise the start of the growing season.
William Charity – Senior Horticulturist