Green roofs are all the rage these days.
They're the next best way New York City is going to get back into the nature game we demolished by digging up so many fields, forests, and meadows to build all our streets, sidewalks, and buildings.
How do green roofs work, you're wondering? Great question.
A green roof is a thin layer of vegetation installed on a flat or pitched roof. Though each individual design may vary, all green roofs have the same basic necessary design.
Aside from helping to you know, rescue the environment, they're also really really pretty.
There's hardly anything more stunning than standing amidst thriving plant life far above honking cabs, bustling streets, and high stretching skyscrapers.
We're in love with the juxtaposition between city and plant life, which is why we've compiled a list of NYC's 7 most wonderfully beautiful rooftop gardens.
Because we might have built train tracks, buildings, and sidewalks, but that doesn't mean they can't share their space with thriving gardens.
1. The High Line (24th Street and 10th Avenue)
quynhniee Haven't seen green grass for months! Overly excited :P #greengrass #spring #blossom #nyc #highline
We can't talk about rooftop gardens without talking about the High Line. It's actually not possible.
The High Line is an out-of-use railroad trestle that's been converted to a public landscape by some of the city's most inventive designers. Building this glory took more than two years of construction per section.
Its planting design was inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the train tracks during the 25 years after trains stopped running on them. The species of grasses, shrubs, and trees planted in this park were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, texture and color variation.
The plants are watered through an irrigation system installed with options for both automatic and manual watering. Plus, the plants are designed to retain as much rainwater as possible.
Almost half the High Line's plants are native species, and many were produced by local growers. Its ecosystem also provides food and shelter for a variety of wildlife species, including native pollinators. Currently in bloom are purple prairie clovers, jade coneflowers, wild petunias, plus many, many more.
This 1.45-mile-long public garden attracts 5 million annual visitors.
2. Rockefeller Rooftop Garden (45 Rockefeller Plaza)
Via Untapped Cities
This hidden conglomeration of five rooftop gardens has been cultivated for 75 years. Its impeccably maintained plants include flowers, shrubs, and lawns. And they're some of the oldest rooftop gardens in the city.
They shot the original Spiderman here amongst the bird sanctuary, rock gardens, and vegetable gardens.
Public access to these gardens is rare, but every so often they're open to the public. They were planned when the Rockefeller Center was first constructed, because its developer John R. Todd and architect Raymond Hood wanted the buildings' design to be aesthetically pleasing for tenants and by passers.
The garden's fountains, pools, stone planters, and vegetations are supported by extra reinforcing steel on the roof of Rockefeller Center.
3. 5 Borough Green Roof Garden (20 Randall's Island Park)
Via greenroofs.com
This 29,000 square-foot garden atop the Park's Department's Five Borough Administrative Building is the fifth largest green roof in NYC.
The plants live and thrive on Randall's Island, a glorious oases accessible via bridge from East 103rd Street or the Robert F Kennedy Bridge from Queens.
It was first installed in the spring of 2007, and became the first walk-able green roof system in 2009. It's got 29 different green roofs systems, which grow vegetables, herbs, fruit. It's also got solar panels and a rainwater collection system.
It's the only known green roof in the country with such a large variety of different plant systems coexisting side by side.
,4. Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (44 Eagle Street - Brooklyn)
latmiller80 Found a rooftop farm on my street today. Pretty cool! They were specialising in hot peppers. Also had some chickens. #urbanfarm #rooftops #rooftopfarm #eaglestreetrooftopfarm #Greenpoint #brooklyn #nyc #agriculture #farming #peppers #chilli #chillipeppers
Growing organic vegetables to supply an onsite farm market and bicycling fresh produce to area restaurants, this massive rooftop garden spans 6,000 square-feet.
This rooftop garden thrives three stories into the sky.
They're open for browsing for customers who want to either peruse their garden or buy their vegetables on Sundays from 1-4 p.m.
They also offer educational and volunteer programs, and are dedicated to bringing urbanites closer to their food source.
5. Brooklyn Grange (various NYC locations)
estellecalvet Rooftop farm hidden in NY → Brooklyn Grange ! #brooklyngrange #brooklyngrangefarm #brooklyn #roof2015 #rooftopfarm #urbanfarming #greennyc #newyorkcity
Brooklyn Grange cultivates two rooftop gardens; one in Long Island City and one in Brooklyn. With these two locations, they grow over 50,000 pounds of organically cultivated produce per year.
Their Brooklyn Navy Yard location is the largest rooftop soil farm in the world at 65,000-square feet. Their Long Island City rooftop farm follows in at a close second, at 43,000-square feet.
They also hold events, which span from farm tours to yoga to farm and garden workshops, film screenings, concerts, wine tastings, weddings, and dinners. Check their calendar of events to see if they've got a workshop, yoga class, or farm tour that fits into your schedule.
If you can make it, you really should see this stunning collision of nature and skyscraper.
6. David Puchkoff and Eileen Stukan's West Village Rooftop Garden
Via Magas Verdes
Puchkoff and Stukan's garden is atop a six-story building on Greenwich Street in the West Village. Their 1,200-square-foot meadow is alive with thousands of plants who thrive in heat and drought.
Their rooftop cottage is also home to mourning doves, woodpeckers, and bees.
Puchkoff said the idea for his garden was inspired by a visit to a friend in Elk Lake, Pennsylvania.
"We were sitting on the porch, the lake was only 20 feet away, and I said, 'That's what I want - I'd love to have a porch."
Their garden comes with numerous benefits: the plants insulate the building from the cold in the winter and the head in the winter. They also absorb the rainfall and reduce storm water runoff.
"What I fid so wonderful about a green roof, as opposed to potted plants, is you really feel like you're looking out at unbroken land and nature. And it's restorative," Stukane said.
7. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor's Center (990 Washington Avenue)
Via Archrecord
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor's Center uses twenty-eight geothermal wells to heat and cool the building.
Their wood-paneled walls are made from ginkgo trees harvested on-site. In addition, the building's design utilizes the surrounding topography to reduce rainwater runoff and erosion.
Their two green roofs grow a diversity of green roof plantings, including meadow grasses, wildflowers, and bulbs, providing a model of sustainable building technology.
"It's part of an extraordinary tradition of creating new models for bringing in the community, for connecting the urban world with the natural world," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden's president Scot Medbury.
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[Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]