A WALL of colour is taking shape in the outdoor concert arena at the Eden Project thanks to a huge effort by the Green Team.

This month up to 25 of the project’s gardeners have been working through heavy showers and sharp winds to dig around 10,000 plants into the steeply-sloping bed facing the stage in front of the world-famous Biomes.

The crescent-shaped bank will provide a stunning outlook for superstar artists such as Kylie Minogue, Liam Gallagher and Nile Rodgers when they play the Eden Sessions concerts over the next few weeks.

The mass planting across the 2,800sqm area is the latest chapter in the restoration of the bank following a landslip five years ago.

Horticulturists at the Eden nursery nurtured the 10,000 herbaceous plants and five species of palms from tiny plants ready for the long-planned mass installation which started last Tuesday morning and is now complete.

The area is now adorned with flowering plants including lupins, buddleia, agapanthus, campanula and salvia, creating a blue backdrop.

Alongside the flowers is an exotic selection of palms including Chinese and European fan palms and Mexican blue palms.

Due to the gradient, it took the horticulture team several years to ensure the slope was stabilised before they could look at replanting.

Paul Stone, Eden’s head of horticulture, who oversaw the stabilisation and landscaping, said: “Hats off to the team for their huge efforts in planting this area during some very volatile weather this week. The bank promises to look spectacular as the plants bed in.”

Paul said that the landslide had been a setback, but it had offered Eden the opportunity to look again at the structure of the back of the arena at the heart of the former clay quarry and plan a dramatic planting scheme.

At the base of the sweeping new bed is a gabion wall – stones encased in metal mesh – and on top of the wall is a five metre-wide terraced lawn providing a spectacular viewing area.

Paul added: “The planting is designed to continue the theme of our Blue Border, which links the Core education centre with the Biomes. This will create a wave of blue at the height of the summer.”

Julie Kendall, Eden’s horticultural team leader, said: “We are delighted with how it is looking so far and how everyone has worked together. We have selected some beautiful plants which will have a bold and beautiful impact in a very visible area of our garden.”