When I first saw this roof deck near Gramercy Park in Manhattan, it was just a black pitch roof with some ugly lattice fencing, bright blue tarps, and rotting cedar planters. Our re-design included contemporary looking wood planters, decking, and fencing custom-built out of ipe, a weather-resistant hardwood with a 30-year life expectancy. Evergreens provide much needed privacy from a nearby building. Other plantings in this garden include boxwoods, ornamental grasses, red Japanese maples, bamboo, and hydrangeas. We ran low-voltage lighting lines and drip irrigation lines underneath the deck and up into the planters before all of the screws were completely drilled into the deck planks to help make them invisible. We wanted this garden to have a contemporary feel, which is why we designed the planters and fencing in a horizontal style, using boards with varying widths for an interesting bit of contrast.
