Brighton has been a green resort for more than a century with a matchless array of plants and parks.

When the council was formed in the Victorian era, one of the first thing it did was to set up a parks department.

It was fortunate to have a series of superintendents of exceptional talent who each devoted most of their working life to the task.

Perhaps the best known of them was Bertie Maclaren who presided over parks with energy and innovation.

Brighton became the first council to tear down the traditional iron railings around parks, opening them up to the public.

Maclaren created the country’s biggest rock garden at Preston Park mainly to disguise the fact that it was a railway embankment.

He was responsible for the attractive design at The Level and for making many improvements at Preston Park.

His successor, Ray Evison, was good with bedding plants which adorned all the main open spaces.

Brighton also hosted a Garden of Greetings contest at Preston Park in which the town planted out designs by other resorts.

In Withdean Park, so many lilacs were grown that Brighton eventually housed the national collection which is still there to day. It has survived vandalism, theft and budget cuts.

Brighton also has the largest number of elms left in England and still takes strict measures to protect them from Dutch elm disease.

It has particularly magnificent specimens in Preston Park and the Royal Pavilion grounds while one elm is even older than the palace itself.

In the 1970s, Brighton spent more than a million pounds each year on its parks. It employed 200 staff.

Mike Griffin, then parks director, found his job expanding greatly to take in many aspects of leisure. He did them well but he was a plantsman at heart.

Unfortunately the parks budget was always an easy one to cut in times of trouble and the magnificent floral displays of the past have been much reduced.

The council has been helped in recent years by a decline in popularity of bedding plants, which are expensive, in favour of a more natural look.

Grass now grows long in many places and people are now free to walk in previously closed spaces such as the Valley Gardens.

The council has also encouraged group of friends to be formed in many parks and they have been active in keeping up standards in much loved areas such as Queen’s Park and Blaker’s Park.

One of the biggest disasters was the 1987storm which destroyed four out of five mature trees in many Brighton parks.

But it also did some good. Mike Griffin was just about to recommend felling some elms at The Level, because they were too close together, but the storm did the job for him.

Destruction of elms in front of St Peter’s Church opened up views of the handsome building while the council was also able to plant more verities in most of the main parks.

Constant vigilance has been needed to keep Brighton green despite many threats and nevermore so than now.