Rooftop gardens: 7 types of urban gardens on buildings

What are urban rooftop gardens like and what are they for? Below we will see several examples of rooftop gardens that can be installed on the terraces of hotels, restaurants or neighborhood communities.

We already talked in the post on types of urban gardens, some of the gardens in cities, but the truth is that there are so many types of cultivation that you can make dozens of classifications more. Today we will talk about some urban gardens that, like the rest, are very beneficial to the environment of cities: rooftop gardens.

In addition to being able to enjoy all the benefits of urban gardens and the vegetation that usually accompany them (such as garden flowers or aromatic plants), in rooftop gardens you can also enjoy a beautiful view of the city.

Types of rooftop gardens

The following is a summary of some of the types of rooftop gardens that have caught our attention during our visits to Gardens around the world.

Hotels with rooftop gardens

Some time ago we visited the rooftop garden of the Wellington Hotel in Madrid, but there are many other accommodations that offer their guests the possibility of consuming in the hotel restaurant the vegetables and aromatic herbs that are grown on top of the building.

The luxury hotel of the Hilton chain, the Waldforf Astoria New York, also had, until its remodeling, a large vegetable garden on its rooftop and, in the NH chain, hotels such as the Collection Barbizon Palace (Netherlands), the Berlin Alexanderplatz (Europe) or the NH Collection Eurobuilding (Madrid) also have their own rooftop gardens.

Rooftop gardens for the sale of organic products

One example is the City Farm urban garden in Tokyo, and also the large Brooklyn Grange Farm in New York, the largest urban rooftop garden in the world. It grows and sells more than 20,000 tons of organic vegetables every year.   

Therapeutic rooftop gardens

We have not been lucky enough to visit any hospital with a rooftop garden, although in the city of Madrid there are already several projects underway, such as the children’s rooftop garden at the Hospital 12 de Octubre or the one at La Paz hospital.

In the city of Barcelona, the project “Hort al Terrat” has already created five gardens on the rooftops of municipal buildings that function as therapeutic gardens where more than 100 people with disabilities grow plants.

Whether on the rooftop or in the garden on the first floor, hopefully more and more health centers and hospitals will join this initiative of therapeutic gardens, as there are many benefits of this type of space for patients and their families.

Rooftop greenhouses

It is incredible to see a large greenhouse on the roof of any building. As we saw in the post Greenhouses on rooftops, advantages of urban agriculture in height, growing gardens on rooftops has, in addition, many benefits for cities and for those who live in them.

Compared to conventional rooftop gardens (without a roof), rooftop greenhouses have some advantages, such as lower incidence of pests and diseases, or protection from heavy rain or wind. But of course… this is also reflected in the initial investment cost, and, of course, rooftop gardens are more economical.

Community rooftop gardens

We have visited several rooftop gardens set up by associations or neighborhood groups, such as the Anken Rooftop Garden in Shanghai. A community garden on the rooftop of a restaurant, where the Good to China association runs workshops and organizes urban gardeners who want to participate in the garden. 

Restaurants with rooftop gardens

There are more and more restaurants that, if they have the possibility, install an urban vegetable garden on the rooftop of their building to supply them with the vegetables and herbs they use in their kitchens.

Elena showed us some restaurants with rooftop gardens in the article about the most famous restaurants with gardens in the world.

7.  Rooftop vegetable garden on a rooftop or terrace

Finally, I didn’t want to leave without telling you about a possibility that is more within everyone’s reach: a rooftop or rooftop garden.

I hope that, if you have the possibility, you will be encouraged to install a vegetable garden on your rooftop.

I hope you liked today’s post!!! If you like it, please rate it and help us to spread the word so that more and more people are encouraged with this urban agriculture. Greetings!