Parking Garage in Spain Gets a Green Roof Makeover

Parking garages are often overlooked pieces of architecture, but this underground garage in Alicante Spain received some special treatment with a <a href="../green-roof/" target="_blank">green roof</a> makeover. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/19/auditorium-ciutat-delx-adds-open-space-with-a-sloping-green-roof/" target="_blank">Urbanarbolismo</a>, a Spanish firm with a strong focus on vegetation, designed and installed this succulent garden in the courtyard of the garage. The garden is super low-maintenance and doesn't need any irrigation whatsoever, and with every passing year it will grow more and more beautiful as the plants grow larger and take root.

The garden is located on the roof of an underground parking garage in Benisaudet IVVSA and is located in a courtyard at street level.

Besides being beautiful, the green roof also helps keep temperatures cool at the street level and improves the air quality.

Urbanarbolismo utilized a number of systems and techniques to create the right kind of planting bed for the succulents.

The plant selection was made according to the climatic characteristics of Alicante. 37 different species of succulents are included, like Crassula, Sempervivum, Aeonium, kalanchoe and Echeveria.

The succulents were planted with a density of 50 plants per square meter, which will eventually create a rich and colorful garden. If one plant dies, the space occupied will soon be taken over by an adjacent plant.

All of the succulents were chosen in order to provide the courtyard with a variety of color throughout the year. At different times, various plants will bloom with little flowers.

Succulents quickly propagate through cuttings, so all the plants that were broken during transport or planting were utilized to create new plant cover.

The garden is located in a sheltered courtyard, so the plants are protected from the elements. This also meant that the designers could increase the number of species and the variety of colors, which would have been limited in a more exposed area.

The ground cover requires no maintenance or irrigation.

As time goes on, the plants will grow larger and take up more space, leaving less dirt and mulch. In two years' time, this garden will be quite beautiful.