The giant green wall overlooking the railway tracks at New Street Station has disappeared.
Work is underway to get it replaced - after the original plants exhausted the soil they were planted in.
This time the foliage in the 'living wall' will be fed without soil.
And, thanks to the latest hydroponic technology, that should signal a much longer life.
You can see the wall halfway through its rebuilding process on the above video.
The original 325 square metre wall was more than six years old.
But even before the great summer heatwave of 2018 its plants had started to go brown because the soil could not sustain its demand for nutrients and there were problems with the watering system.
Ripping them out put the workforce at risk in unexpected ways.
Eight hypodermic needles were discovered in the vegetation that had been discarded by drug users.
Workers used extra thick gloves during the operation to remove the climbing plants just in case they did not see any needles first.
Where is the site?
The wall overlooks the New Street Railway Station tracks at the Bullring end of Grand Central and faces towards Smallbrook Queensway.
It stretches all the way from the bottom of the Rotunda to the passageway that goes beneath Grand Central.
This leads towards the Midland Metro tram line on Stephenson Street.
The nearest area of major greenery is more than five minutes' walk away - in Birmingham Cathedral Square.
Seeing the wall in all of its glory is a completely different and much more calming experience to the way other parts of the city are challenged by the harshness of the built environment.
This can range from planning blight to roadworks, empty shops, aggressive beggars and people struggling on the streets, graffiti and even the current craze for covering lampposts with stickers
Why the new wall will be better
After the failed foliage was taken out the wall was prepared to take a hydroponic system.
This enables plants to be fed without soil which can otherwise become exhausted.
The water based food is constantly being replenished and the plants thrive in such an open, sunny environment.
One worker on the scheme told BirminghamLive that if the Bioctecture system had been chosen the first place then the original wall 'would still be alive'.
But he thought a different company's original wall had probably been chosen because it was seen to be a less expensive option at the time.
How it works
Plants have been grown in a greenhouse to replace the ones taken out.
They have taken root through a material known as rockwool, typically made from melting basaltic rock and spinning it out into fibres.
The blocks containing the plants are then fixed on to the wall - a bit like tiling a bathroom.
When it was originally planted, the wall had some 25 different species.
The new wall will have six.
The timetable
The replacement wall will be completely finished on Tuesday, May 14 after more than a week of intensive work.
After two weeks, it is expected to look in 'full bloom'.
The wall will typically be trimmed three times a year.
The Network Rail view
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We’re excited to be replacing the living wall outside Birmingham New Street station after waiting for the new plants to be carefully nurtured over the last few months.
"We’re replanting after disease spread through the wall and there were problems with the watering system.
"These issues have now been fixed and we will ensure the hardy plants are regularly checked, watered and looked after over the coming years.”
Promotional material issued in 2015, the year Grand Central and New Street Railway Station opened together in September, said the wall was part of the station's 'green credentials'.
It said: "Network Rail and its delivery partner Mace, backed by Birmingham City Council, Centro and the Department for Transport, wanted to transform the station into one that the people of Birmingham could be really proud of with sustainability credentials not previously achieved for a major train station of this kind.
"Despite the location for New Street having a low ecology site, Network Rail appointed suitably qualified ecologists to advise and report on enhancing and protecting the ecological value of the site.
"A key feature of the output was a 325m2 green wall with over 25 different species along the Moor Street link to the east of the new station, creating a completely new welcoming route into the station and concealing a long dark and dirty retaining wall."
What Biotecture says
The home page of the Chichester-based company's website quotes Audrey Hepburn saying: 'To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow'.
It adds: "Our vision is to transform urban architecture for the well-being of people and the planet.
"To achieve our vision will take time but we are gardeners so we must be patient.
"Green infrastructure occurs in the space where architecture meets landscape architecture, structures integrate with the natural world and buildings adjoin nature.
"These are the spaces and places where we specialise.
"There often seems to be a disconnect between our view of the value of nature during our leisure time and how we perceive its value during the working week.
"We compartmentalise nature to the extent where we believe it has little or no beneficial part to play in large sections of our lives.
"There is a compelling and growing evidence base to suggest that this is not a very forward thinking position to adopt.
"Rather, it is proven that nature plays a significant role in improving, enhancing and enriching our urban landscapes whether it be indoors or outside.
"We need a planet with a viable biosphere but the planet really doesn’t need us. Actually it would probably be better off without us!"
