To create a peaceful and inviting green sanctuary in a heavy foot traffic area, enhancing aesthetics and supporting year-round interest and vibrancy

The project involved filling two 12m granite planters with a mix of drought-resistant plants that provide texture and colour across seasons.

The selected planting is low maintenance and will be drought tolerant once established. The scheme will provide all year round interest with a mix of evergreen and deciduous species.

With train stations either side of the street, this creates a street wind canyon effect, providing the sense of perpetual motion. This is reflected in the planting of prairie grasses and a curving line of Cornus sibirica shrubs as the backbone of the scheme which weaves its way between the multi-stem Amelanchier trees.

Either side of the curving shrubs, low level perennials form a ground cover of textures and colours that compliment the Bloom building and the old Metropolitan Railway station.

Plant species include:

Hebe Mrs Winder: A globe like bushy evergreen shrub with purple green leaves and long flowering pinkish purple flowers.

Amelanchier Lamarckii  Multi Stem: ‘Amelanchier is a deciduous spring flowering tree with bronze green foliage turning orange in Autumn.

Cornus Alba Sibirica: This deciduous bushy shrub has lime green leaves in summer giving way to striking red stems in winter.

Rosmarinus Prostratus: A long flowering prostrate bushy shrub with pale violet-blue flowers and aromatic leaves.

Lychnis Coronaria: Bushy perennial with masses of deep pink flowers on silvery stems and leaves throughout summer.

Vinca Minor Atropurpurea: An evergreen ground cover mat forming shrub with dark green leaves and long flowering deep purple flowers.

Heuchera Green Spice: A semi evergreen highly decorative lobed green leaf with spikes of white flowers in spring/summer

Tiarella Pink Skyrocket: Semi evergreen perennials with white pink flower spikes in spring/summer and deep pinnate leaves.

Liriope Muscari Royal Purple: Evergreen perennial with strappy green leaves and long flowering purple panicles.

Phlomis Russeliana: Semi evergreen perennials with yellow whorls of  flowers in summer running up a stem of sage like leaves.

Moliinia Caerulea Heidebraut: A deciduous grass forming dense tussocks with slender spiked plumes in autumn.

Libertia Grandiflora: Clump forming mounds of strappy evergreen leaves with white flowers turning to orange berries.

The area’s wind tunnel effect and heavy foot traffic required durable plant choices that could thrive in challenging urban conditions.

The area is a bustling space with people coming in and out of the stations or stopping as a place to meet. The newly refreshed planters act as a green oasis, bringing nature into the hard surfaces of the hectic urban city while providing a place for people to rest and relax. 

The planting scheme also provides ecological value through boosting biodiversity and improving air quality.