June is well underway, and while the weather has been a little changeable, we have been busy prepping the gardens and café for a busy summer season which kicked off with our biggest event of the year! 

In the gardens…

The Square Garden here at The Walled Garden is really starting to bloom with the likes of the striking Cosmos, the elegant Sweet Peas, and so much more. The Dahlias along Dahlia Walk are popping up, offering some fantastic bursts of colour, and we’re starting to see more growth in the Grass Border!

It really is the best time of year to visit, and don’t forget, Season Tickets mean you get unlimited visits, so with the gardens continuing to bloom through the summer, you can visit again and again

Recent visitors to Animal Acre will have noticed our Tortoises have a brand new outdoor run! This gives them more space than ever before, plus an easy route back to shelter inside the shed if the weather is not to their liking. Complete with food sources and sand-pit, with more enrichment to be added, we’re excited to have them out on display in this way, bringing another opportunity to see our diverse animals up close.

Barking for joy at the Dog Show!

On 7^th June, we hosted our annual Dog Show & Family Fun Day. Many of you may remember that our 2025 event had to be cancelled due to the heatwaves and was taken to online judging, with a Winner’s Ceremony being held at our Garden Fete in September.

This meant we were even more excited to welcome our four-legged visitors back on site! Despite the stormy weather the day before, it cleared enough for our event to go ahead (PHEW!). We welcomed over 25 stalls from local businesses, and they all very kindly donated items to our raffle.

This year, our raffle raised money for People First Dorset. A user-led charity set up to empower people with learning disabilities across Dorset. Some of their volunteers and members joined us for the day to help run the raffle, and they were brilliant! Thank you to all the stallholders, local businesses and attractions who donated prizes to this raffle. Funds raised will be tallied up later in the year, as we’re not finished with our efforts – and there will be more opportunities soon to help us raise money for this amazing local charity.

We changed the way we ran the Dog Show this year, and reached out to Staffie & Stray Rescue to see if they would like to team up with us for the event. They would take care of the dogs, pre-registrations and judging on the day. This meant every £2.50 registration into the show would go towards the amazing work they do with dogs around Dorset. Sophie from SSR said:

“We were so happy when The Walled Garden reached out to us to co-host the 2026 Dog Show. We’ve had representatives attend some of their previous events, so we were already familiar with this one!

“During the day, we had more than 200 different dogs enter into the categories, and so many more turned up just to watch the day unfold. Events like these bring a great sense of community. Everyone supports and cheers for each other, so, despite the breezy weather, we are thrilled at how successful it was!”

And it’s with great pleasure to announce that from dog registrations, along with their fundraising stall at the event, they raised a fantastic £1,089!

Across the nine categories, we had upwards of 200 dogs take part and we absolutely loved meeting every single one, from Yorkies to Irish setters and Poodles. But at the end of the day, The Best in Show category, in memory of Staffie & Stray Rescue founder Calli Byrne, was announced, and Angus was chosen by our Event Sponsor, Cormac, from The Pet Experience.

Speaking of Cormac, The Pet Experience played such a big part in bringing our event to you this year. Being our Event Sponsor meant Cormac and his team put together and donated all the prizes for 1^st – 3^rd in each category as well as the hamper for Angus, our Best in Show winner.

Their kind donations are the reason we were able to put on such a great day celebrating our companions. Cormac previously said:

“We love the sense of community this event brings every year. So when we were approached to be sponsors, it was an easy ‘yes!'” It’s an event we’ve supported a few times before, and we are so happy to be able to play a bigger part in it this year”.

So that’s a wrap on our 2026 Dog Show & Family Fun Day, we had so much fun meeting all the visitors and of course the pups, stay tuned for the 2027 date announcement in the very near future!

If you’re looking to stop by soon and see us here in Moreton, our NEW MENU is available in the café right now.

Plus we’re offering a Steak special for father’s day! Booking advised.

See you soon!

Recent Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – A great hidden gem everyone should visit! Seeing all the animals was a highlight but I also loved the well maintained gardens! (Google)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Recommended by the volunteers at Clouds Hill. They were not wrong…..a charming café in a delightful surrounding. Really nice Quiche…probably the best I’ve had. (Google)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ –  Beautifully curated garden, broad variety of plants and flowers. The smells and views were incredible. I really enjoyed the animals, the Polish chickens were hilarious. The goats were super friendly and came to say hello. Great day out for kids and adults. Free parking and admission was only £4 for adults, kids go FREE. Certainly drop by if you’re in town. I recommend the café, great food. (Google)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – We had such a lovely morning at the Walled Gardens at Morton and would highly recommend it for families and childminders. There was plenty to keep the children entertained and engaged throughout our visit. They especially loved seeing all of the animals, and it was wonderful to have so much outdoor space for them to explore safely. (TripAdvisor)