In yesterday's post I concentrated on the trees at Marks Hall but they also have a fab walled garden where I managed to snap many more pictures than I could share in a single blog post.

But first some info on the walled garden...

The walled garden has five separate gardens, each with a great view of the Upper Lake. The garden starts with an earth sculpture representing the start of the year; a Mexican Orange Blossom hedge merges into the second garden, where it snakes and dips providing support for the delicate fronds of plants and disappears through a hedge into the third garden. There everything is strong and clear with long stone seats.

The line taken by the hedge is now a series of spheres, first clipped box and then stone. In the fourth garden the thread becomes an undulating stone wall and the planting is vivid with reds and oranges. Finally the slate thread dives into a block of hornbeam and back into the earth, through a deep slate pool marking the end of the cycle.

And if all that is too deep for you, then just sit back and enjoy the pictures...

I'm a big herb fan - the Sage here looks magnificent. But aren't the Lupins lovely? Mine are always eaten by slugs & snails unfortunately

MOH refers to all Euphorbias as "Dalek plants" - he has a point, but please don't let on! Instead let's concentrate on the glorious, glorious Santolini

I love this colour combination, of rusty browns and bright red poppies - so dramatic.

Time for some Peony love, but where's the other bud gone?

A secret path in the Hornbeam, and yes - we followed it!

I'd love to know the name of this plant, if you know please leave a comment - thanks!

Update: I discovered the name of this at Blackheath Open Gardens - it's a Cistus. Mystery solved.

And what a slate pool. And with that, we left the walled garden and headed off to explore the rest of the grounds of the arboretum. It is truly a fantastic place to visit!