On the vast Montreuil plateau, each narrow, elongated plot, oriented north–south, was enclosed by a 2.70 m-high wall,[2] topped by a tile roof.

The peach trees, trained in espaliers "à la diable",[notes 2] were leaning against the east and west walls, and trellised with canvas ties nailed into the masonry.

Émile Zola mentions them in Le Ventre de Paris: "the peaches above all, the blushing Montreuil ones, thin-skinned and fair like Northern girls".

[4] This production was complemented by floral crops (lilacs, daffodils, irises, delphiniums, roses, peonies), and by vine and raspberry plantations, which provided additional income for arboriculturists.

They are also evoked by Zola, who mentions "the brilliants and Valenciennes worn by the daughters of the great gardeners of Montreuil, who came among their roses".

Many of the peach varieties now grown around the world were created in Montreuil at this time, including the Prince of Wales, the Grosse Mignonne,[6][7][8] and the Téton de Vénus.

[9][10][11] Among the montreuillois horticulturists most active in variety creation were Alexis Lepère (1799–1883),[12] Arthur Chevreau, Joseph Beausse, Désiré Chevalier and Louis Aubin.

[notes 6] In 1953, an area of 50 ha was classified as a protected horticultural zone, but the 1976 SDRIF transformed the sector into an urban green space reserve.

When the SDRIF was revised in 1994, this protective status was transformed into an 80% urban zone, reflecting the State's abandonment of the site, with the consent of the municipality at the time.

In the meantime, the association has acquired a 600 m2 plot that its owner wished to sell, and a public subscription was launched in the summer of 2007 to raise the necessary €24,000.

An international youth work camp organized by Union Rempart enabled some twenty meters of wall to be replastered during the summer of 2007.