A Winter's Tale

Tipped in frost and reflected in the mirror of an ice-sheathed lake, the trees and gardens of Markshall Estate Arboretum take on an enchanting beauty in the coldest months

- Jacky Hobbs

Mounds of Pennisetum villosum, Teucrium fruticans, Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’ and Choisya ternata in the Long Border create interesting shapes throughout winter

This 200-acre estate is dedicated to global-scale conservation, with specific interest in arboriculture and forestry. Pipped to the post by Wakehurst, in West Sussex, as second in command to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the estate maintains strong relations with the horticulturalists and scientists at Kew and has a wealth of rare and unique plants, including probably the world’s largest collection of wollemia. This coniferous tree was previously only witnessed in fossil form until a handful were discovered in 1994, growing in a remote valley in Australia. Seventy specimens now thrive at Markshall Estate, where arboretum manager, Ian Chandler aims to create a rare, 200-strong wollemia forest, ‘which no longer exists anywhere else in the world’.

A grassy earthwork mound creates a structural focal point in the Walled Garden, surrounded by crisp hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) hedges