Greening up King George Square

When Brisbane's King George Square was reopened to the public nearly two years after a $28m facelift, there was an immediate outcry over the lack of shade. The square adjoins City Hall, and what should have been a attractive public space for tourists and city workers was a  stark paved area with glaring light and soaring temperatures. The council has since set about remedying the situation, replanting trees and installing cafe-style shade umbrellas.

Today, when I ventured into King George Square for an early Christmas work lunch at Groove Train, I noticed that they have also installed a vertical garden. It's quite discreet, definitely not a centrepiece, but I thought it was very attractive, and it certainly introduces a cool, lush element to the overall design of the square.

There was a wide variety of plants incorporated into the planting: philodendrons, bromeliads, begonias, spider plants, zebrina (wandering jew), ferns, syngoniums, spathiphyllums. In fact, lots of things that I already have here, which got me thinking about the ugly fence beside the driveway and garage. But, I have plenty of projects to complete before I will even starting planning a major undertaking like that.

So, back to King George Square's vertical garden... My verdict - definitely a step in the right direction.