Discoveries to make in the garden
Secret spaces & places
Our garden team have created two secret tunnels in the garden for families to enjoy. Find the animals of Blickling wood inside or enjoy a game of hide and seek. The larger tunnel has tree stump seats - perfect for a secret picnic.
The secret garden is a place for quiet contemplation or a good read. It is on the east side of the wilderness, surrounded by beech hedges. The trellis seat was probably put there for Lady Suffield by John Adey Repton.
The acre & parade
Take a stroll on the Acre, watch the birds on the lake, play a game of croquet or wander to the picnic tables on the parade where children can have fun with our giant games.
The lime trees and the turkey oak have been 'stopped' to allow them to spread. The branches of the lime trees have rooted and almost look to be individual trees.
Parterre
The planting of the parterre was radically simplified by Norah Lindsay for the 11th Marquess of Lothian in 1932. She retained the yew hedge topiary but replaced the intricacies of the Victorian planting with four large herbaceous plots in cool and hot colours, surrounded by beds of old roses and catmint.
Orangery
The site of the Orangery was chosen in 1781. In 1793 it contained 15 large, 11 young and six dwarf orange trees. Unheated today, it houses hardier citrus trees. The statue of Hercules is probably a Nicholas Stone figure and the majolica plaques, in the style of Luca della Robbia, are 19th-century.
Temple
This building is first mentioned in 1738 but it was probably built some 10 years before. In the frieze the monograms of Sir John Hobart (later 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire) alternate with the Hobart bull. The temple is built in the Doric style and dominates an imposing vista down to the house.
Wilderness
The concept of the 'wilderness' is much more structured than its name implies. It dates from the earliest Jacobean garden.During the 1987 gales many trees were lost overnight. All have now been replaced with new trees planted to fill earlier gaps.
Topiary and yew hedges
The yew hedges line the front drive leading to the house. The annual trimming begins in August with the topiary of the parterre. The great hedges are tackled next. Nowadays, the task is completed in little over a fortnight with mechanical cutters, a cherry picker and constant attention to line and form.
