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Council starts work on green wall at Dukes Mound

Besi Besemar February 22, 2014

Conservation work has begun on one of the longest green walls in the country on Brighton seafront to protect a variety of coastal plants and repair the concrete wall.

Dukes Mound Green Wall

Over 90 different species are growing on the Madeira Drive retaining wall on the north side of Duke’s Mound to the east of Brighton seafront. Up to 20 metres high and 1.2 kilometres long on a wall nearly 200 years old, Brighton’s green wall is one of the oldest and longest in the country.

Brighton & Hove City Council is working with the guidance of Brighton and Hove Building Green and the Ecology Consultancy, pruning back foliage and enlarging the bed at the foot of the wall.

This autumn the council will carry out repair work to the concrete wall itself to maintain the effectiveness of the wall and provide an ongoing habitat for plants and wildlife.

As well as an impressive display of Japanese spindle growing almost up to the upper promenade, the wall contains the nationally scarce hoary stock, a coastal plant most commonly found on the south coast.

The Japanese spindle was deliberately established in the early nineteenth century when the wall was built, as a means to improve the appearance of the seafront for visitors and local people. Originating from Japan, Korea and China, these hardy plants are amongst the oldest surviving plants of this species in the UK.

Work is being carried out now on a 400 metre stretch to avoid the bird nesting season.

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