An Alpine area designed by the West Sussex group of the Alpine Garden Society was planted at the Avenue de Chartres entrance to the garden, which is open to the public.

Helping out with the planting were the Friends of Bishop's Palace Garden, staff from the district council's parks team, and council chairman Cllr John Ridd.

The new planting features dwarf species of rhododendrons, conifers, tulips and daffodils, as well as heathers, campanula, pinks, thyme, and other flowering Alpine plants, with a number of the plants being donated to the project by the society.

The Friends of Bishop's Palace Garden have also designed and planted the border adjacent to the new Alpine garden.

It now boasts a wide range of flowering and foliage plants including acers, scented roses, hydrangeas, daphnes, forsythia, lavender, viburnums and many more.

The new features should impress the South East in Bloom judges when they visit the city in July.