Preston Circus Planters

The new planter sadly had to be abandoned  in 2022 after large dumpsters were placed in front of it and it started to rot. You can read the full story on our main blog.

March 2017: Two years after the old black planters were removed from outside the Duke of York’s cinema, and pressed into service as traffic calming devices in Viaduct Road, we now have a brand new planter outside the Duke of York’s.

It’s been designed by local designer Claire Potter and is made from recycled wood recovered from Brighton Pier. It’s planted up with herbs and grasses which should be fairly tolerant of dry and windy conditions. Members of the London Road Station Partnership have been involved with the design, and last week, we got together with Claire and local Councillor, Lizzie Dean, to plant up with planter.

We still have our large water butt at Calvary Evangelical Church around the corner in Viaduct Road, and as the days warm up, we’ll be needing volunteers to water the plants as they establish. Please do get in touch: lrsp@hotmail.co.uk or come and find us at London Road Station on Tuesday afternoons.

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January 2015: The four large black planters at Preston Circus which we’ve been looking after for the last three years are going to be removed by Brighton & Hove City Council as part of ‘decluttering’ Preston Circus and enhancing the area outside the Duke of York cinema. BHCC are hoping to repave this area at the bottom of Clyde Road to give it a much more coherent feel, and to commission a custom-made planter which we can then plant up. There are also plans for a community notice-board at the Duke of York’s. We’ve removed most of the plants from the planters and have repotted them. We’re hoping to be able to use them for planting projects in the area, including in the new Duke of York’s planter.

If you’d like to get involved with the group from LRSP/Ditchling Rise and Area Residents Association who are working with BHCC on this, do get in touch!

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There are four large planters at Preston Circus, Brighton. Each planter is 1m x 1.5m. Neighbours and members of the London Road Station Partnership started to revive the planters in March 2012.

We planted them up with a temporary display of annuals – cosmos, nasturtium, petunia – together with some perennials – vinca, verbena bonariensis, lavender – in summer 2012. We set up a watering rota, with the help of East Sussex Fire and Rescue, who have provided us with access to water.

During spring 2013, we have planted the planters up again, this time with some more permanent planting. The four planters have different themes: the lime, green, pink and deep red prairie planter (near ‘Circus Circus’ pub), the blue and orange coastal planter (opposite Hare and Hounds), the cottage planter (with pinks and alchemilla mollis) and the traditional-style planter (with lavender and geraniums) near the Duke of York’s cinema.

We have had some funding from Community First to replant the planters, but we need to keep up a good team of volunteers to water and maintain the planters, and adjust the planting as the seasons change. Do get in touch if you can get involved to help plant and water.

For more, click on Preston Circus Planters (right side of screen) to see our blogs on the planters.