Welcome to downtown Austin. The city might be made of concrete and steel, but Downtown, the hard surfaces are softened by green plants whenever possible. This softening is evident at City Hall, where natural stone blends with native and adapted plants. These beautiful rock planters provide the perfect containers for xeriscape plantings. Interesting… someone left their rock here. A metal sheep looks down from the top of the City Hall’s roof top terrace. The roof top terrace views look out across the city as well as the roof top gardens. Roof Top Terrace South West View Roof Top Terrace South East View Along San Antonio Street, metal planting boxes full of Little John Bottle Brush and Mexican Feather Grass present an unexpected sculptural element to passersby. At a downtown restaurant, a fig vine grows to amazing heights. Along Town Lake, mature oaks provide shade to nearby benches. Bald Cypress trees line a paved stone walkway. Coaxing trees to grow in large metal planters adds an element of green to the side walk. Forests of trees, in perfect alignment, appear to sprout from the concrete. A roof top planted with trees illustrates that in the urban landscape, no surface is overlooked.
