Garden on the Great Wall—A Sustainable Solution for the Plants on the Top Surface of the Great Wall Heritage Site

Abstract

The Great Wall is a world-renowned cultural heritage site and a national key protected cultural relic in China. The plants on the top surface of the Great Wall heritage site are one of the factors leading to the occurrence and continuous deterioration of the Great Wall. Therefore, there is ongoing academic controversy on how to scientifically dispose of the plants on the top surface of the Great Wall heritage site. Taking Beijing Dazhuangke Great Wall as an example, the preliminary field research was completed. This paper further describes the key technology for the disposal of remaining roots after removing the ground part of the plants from the top surface of the Great Wall heritage site and clarifies the basic idea of using the original covered soil on the top surface of the Great Wall heritage site, back-filling the original covered soil stripped via reparation of the layers and the regenerated plants in a seed bank to create ‘soft capping’ protection. This study provides a basic framework for ‘soft capping’ on the top surface of the Great Wall heritage site and construction of the cultural landscape of the ‘Garden on the Great Wall’.