14 Relaxingly Beautiful and Productive Urban Rooftop Gardens

Parking Garage Garden, Madison, Wisconsin

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(image via: ibm4381)

The occupants of the buildings on either side of this parking garage in Madison, Wisconsin might have had to look out on an ugly bare rooftop. Instead, they get to see this – a relaxing green getaway.

Manhattan Rooftop Garden

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(image via: wikimedia commons)

New York City may seem like a concrete jungle, but high above most visitors’ viewpoints are hidden gardens that provide certain lucky residents with private green space. Of course, in a city with towering skyscrapers that can look down onto the rooftops of adjacent buildings, they’re never truly private, so we get to see photos like this from a voyeur’s point-of-view.

Harrods Garden by Lavender & Stone Garden Designs, London

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(image via: vince maher/WENN)

In 2007, the British department store Harrods opened London’s highest rooftop garden on top of its Knightsbridge location. The community garden enables locals to grow their own vegetables and even offers full-service gardening and maintenance so the owners never even have to slip on a glove. Available for a limited time only, the installation called attention to the fact that space to grow food in an urban area comes at a premium.

‘The Rooftop’, Edinburgh, Scotland

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(image via: duncan grey/geograph)

A two-acre modern rooftop garden in Edinburgh, Scotland looks out over Calton Hill and parts of the city.

Kensington High Street Roof Gardens, London

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(image via: david hawgood/geograph)

The largest rooftop gardens in Europe, Kensington Roof Gardens covers 1.5 acres of rooftop space in central London above Kensington High Street. Divided into three theemed areas including a Spanish garden, a Tudor style garden and an English woodland garden, they’re owned by Sir Richard Branson of Virgin. They’re open to the public and include a restaurant, a flowing stream and even a resident pack of flamingos.