Just like that, the school summer holidays are over, and we’re all settling back into our routines again. We loved seeing so many of you over the last six weeks. Thank you to everyone for choosing us to be one of your family days out! Our team puts so much work into ensuring there’s something for everyone here at The Walled Garden and we hope you all enjoyed your visit. Many of you left us amazing reviews, and it really is appreciated!

Now though, summer is drawing to a close, September is here and we’ve got lots in store for both our students and visitors! Here’s some highlights from the last month, and what you can expect coming up!

First things first – THE WEATHER. We’ve had the driest summer since records began and the effects of this haven’t gone unnoticed. Despite our team’s watering efforts, keeping the gardens lush has been challenging with the drought, but we are thankful for the recent short bursts of rain which will start to help things get on the mend again.

Our head Gardener Martin Mellersh said: “The Rose Garden has coped the best with the hot weather. This could be because many of the plants in this area are much newer as they were planted after the first heatwave. So, they haven’t had as much exposure to the heat as the rest of the gardens.”

Despite the weather, the garden team have harvested a fantastic selection of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes which will be put to great use on site for our Halloween events during October half-term.

A new academic year!

We are welcoming our EMA students back on site again this month! Both new and returning young people will be learning new skills and practicing their existing ones around the site.

Martin said: “During the first week we will be getting our spring bulbs planted. The students will be helping the team to plan and prep displays of Daffodils, Anemones, Pansies and Wallflowers and many more for spring flowering. The garden team are also getting the Yew Trees cut in the Rose Garden.”

Early September visitors will also be greeted with a fresh new display of plants to purchase in our sales area near the café, so do have a browse on your next visit!

Animal Acre

The residents over in Animal Acre have had a busy summer. The bugs and reptiles took part in our exotic animal experiences, and the pigs, goats and more all got to meet lots of young animal lovers in our keeper clubs! These events allowed our visitors to get up close with them, and learn all about how they live, and how we care for them.

Before the summer, we also welcomed baby Bearded Dragons, who are all incredibly cute! However, they won’t be living with us here permanently. They will be sold on to new owners and any money we receive will be put straight back into the animals we have here onsite. We also welcomed some new Quail chicks over the holidays!

“Fantastic place. We did the animal experience which was thoroughly enjoyable for all ages. Lots of fantastic knowledge gained by the very knowledgeable staff. Gardens are stunning. Lots of variety of colours and a Dino trail to do at the moment.” – via Google

“Attended one of the bug and reptile experiences with chrissy . The kids had an amazing time , and she was very knowledgeable and very good with the animals and kids.” – via Google

Our Animal expert Chrissy will also be attending Dorset County Show on 6^th and 7^th September at our EMA stand, so if you are visiting the show, be sure to head to stall F7 where she will be happy to talk to you about some of our wonderful creatures she will be bringing with her!

Coming up this month..

2025 marks 10 years since the re-opening of The Walled Garden and EMA! To celebrate this and to say goodbye to summer, we are hosting a Garden Fete on Sunday 21^st September 10am – 3pm. We will be welcoming a host of fantastic local craft stalls, have free-to-play Garden Games (donations welcome as we continue to raise money for our charity of the year), a bouncy castle, face painting and the team at the Dovecote Café will be putting on a BBQ!

During the day, we will be also hosting a winner’s ceremony for the winners of our 2025 Dog Show, which was taken online after the heatwave cancelled the event in July. Winners have now been announced on our social media!

It’s going to be a great end of summer / start of autumn event and we can’t wait to have you all join us to celebrate the day. 🙂

Official announcements and dates for our halloween and CHRISTMAS (yes… we know) events will be going out very soon. We’ve already announced the Christmas market… see you on the 7th December!

A few more highlights from your wonderful feedback during the holidays…

“It was a really lovely place, we visited the cafe and were served by a super team, with learning difficulties, the food was really good, made my day to see the servers being so confident, excellent, well worth the visit” via Google

“An absolute hidden gem!” – via Google, “Excellent food” – via Google

“Really lovely food and excellent value for money. Friendly staff and food freshly prepared and delicious.” – via Google

“Excellent food in large quantities. Friendly service in a very nice setting” – via Google