The Ultimate Guide For Creating A Rooftop Oasis
Sourced from Porch
If you live in a busy urban setting, having easy access to gardens and green space can be lacking. Thankfully, the rooftop garden trend is taking many cities by storm, providing residents with a great way to enjoy city life and the ability to grow their own fruits and veggies — all on the roof of their buildings. If you’re new to the concept of having a rooftop garden, you’re in luck. Read on to discover how you can design a beautiful, lush rooftop landscape and garden while you take in the city view.
A Brief History of Rooftop Gardens
Rooftop gardens can be traced all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia, where stone structures provided a cool, shady place adorned with luscious trees and flowers. These common outdoor spaces were built between 4,000 and 600 BC. In fact, the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the first examples of a rooftop garden, although there is no archaeological proof that these gardens really existed. A preserved rooftop garden was discovered after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and featured a U-shaped terrace with soil on the roof so plants could grow.
Fast-forward to the late 1880s in New York City, where the concept of rooftop gardens began to gain popularity. These beautiful spaces provided a comfortable, lush place in the city for people to gather and socialize. The first official rooftop garden in New York City was located on 39th and Broadway at the Casino Theatre back in 1882. Madison Square Garden once had an impressive rooftop garden, and that’s why it’s still referred to as “the Garden” today. Over the decades, the concept of landscaping and urban gardening on the roof of buildings has become the norm in many cities throughout the United States and the world.
