This contemporary rooftop garden in Manhattan’s Battery Park City is big on style and features artificial turf, white fiberglass planters, horizontal wood fencing, a cabana, and shade sail canopies. It also has a spectacular view of the Statue of Liberty and the New York harbor. The outdoor kitchen was custom-built to fit the space and features granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Plantings include Japanese maples, crape myrtle trees, bamboo, and arborvitaes. All of the planters contain automated drip irrigation and low-voltage lighting lines. The biggest challenge on this rooftop is the extreme sun from its unobstructed southern exposure and gale-force winds that blow in from the harbor. The plants had to be rugged enough to withstand these mountaintop-like conditions. Keeping the white fiberglass planters clean is not as difficult as it might seem – dirt wipes off easily with a sponge and a simple soap and water solution. Many of our clients also express concern over how difficult it must be to clean artificial turf, but it’s also relatively simple to clean with a garden hose or a shop vacuum, much as you would an outdoor carpet. The quality of artificial turf has come a long way in recent years and the high quality ones are now virtually indistinguishable from real grass.