Marrakesh – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Hidden in the heart of the Medina in Marrakech is Le Jardin Secret. Many will be familiar with the documentary showing Tom Stuart-Smith working with teams of local builders and craftspeople to renovate this ancient site, making it what it is today.

The origins of the garden date back to the second half of the sixteenth century, created by the Saadian dynasty. However, the garden and its buildings underwent decline and development as successive rulers governed the region, finally falling into disrepair in the 1930s. The site was eventually bought by an Italian couple, who employed Tom Stuart-Smith to design and create a new garden.

Bamboo at Le Jardin Majorelle, Marrakesh. March 2026

You really need to arrive before 11am to appreciate Le Jardin Majorelle, before it gets too crowded. It is absolutely stunning.

Initially created in the 1930s by Jacques Majorelle, after whom the garden is named, the garden fell into disrepair in the 1950s. In the 1980s Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé set about restoring it. Today the garden and villa complex is open to the public, housing the Berber Museum with the Yves Saint-Laurent Museum close by (both well worth a visit) and has become a major tourist destination in Marrakech, attracting more than 700,00 visitors annually.

Plants from five main groups fill the garden: cacti, palms, bamboo, blooming potted plants and aquatic plants. What makes the garden unique is the incredible cobalt blue, yellow and red used in the hardscaping and it is probably the blue which has made the garden so famous.

Tag: Marrakesh

Le Jardin Secret, Marrakesh

Le Jardin Majorelle, Marrakesh