West Dean Garden, broad beans and blackfly, and perennial vegetables

This week I look at the walled garden at West Dean, tackle blackfly on broad beans and give an update on my new perennial veg garden

I am a Gertrude Jekyll  fan. I used to live a few miles from Munstead Wood, her home near Godalming in Surrey, and there were many examples of her work in the area. I remember visiting West Dean to photograph the Harold Peto pergola and her water gardens. This was more than 20 years ago, so there were plenty of changes to see when I visited recently. The pergola and water gardens and the walled garden with its wonderful glasshouses and trained fruit trees were much as I remembered, but plenty had been added and improved, not least the recently constructed drought resilient gardens.

At the time of my visit, the Sunken Gardens at the end of the pergola were being restored and there was lots of sand in evidence – another climate resilient garden in progress.

Today, I am looking at the upper kitchen garden. This garden has a classic Victorian design …