Borders roundup: In spring this year the rose borders in the walled fruit garden were replanted and after a few months growth looks terrific with some future tweaking and editing. The rain has really helped establish the new plantings although there's a bit of black spot to control on the new roses. The nearby yellow and blue border had a few amendments in early spring, the Achillea and Nepeta were replaced with better behaved cultivars and Anne, the border Queen, has given the selections the thumbs up as they are much more manageable plants.

Elsewhere in the gardens the pergola border has segued into its pink phase as the roses take over from the blue Iris in June. Along the front of the pergola Rosa 'Rosey Cushion' will bloom from now until eternity, it's such a dependable rose and very floriferous. And things are heating up on the hot border in the kitchen garden as an early flush of yellow will shortly be enlivened by oranges and reds.

Summer pruning of fruit at West Dean is currently underway revealing the many desired designed shapes beneath the fringe of summer growth. Some of the designs of the fruit trees in the kitchen garden were copied from a book on the fruit trees in the Potager du Roi in Versailles where historically, superlative fruit tree training abounded. The book (in French!) is a source of inspiration for all fruit tree nutters such as us.