This is an area dominated by Mediterranean trees and shrubs. The gardens are also known among the Vall d’Hebron neighbourhood residents as the jardins de l’estrella (star gardens), after the shape sketched out by the central and lateral parterres. The parterres encircling the gardens’ perimeter trace a broken line, creating spaces resembling the points of a star, which separate the green from the path. A birds’-eye-view of the gardens shows a star shape encircling a central star: a star within another star.
Biodiversity
The parterres boast several species of southern nettle trees (Celtis australis), elms (Ulmus pumila), cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), pines (Pinus pinea) and poplars (Populus nigra). The shrubs accompanying the trees are an example of a Mediterranean understorey with rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), common hawthorn
(Crataegus monogyna), olive trees (Ligustrum vulgare) and narrowleaf firethorn
(Pyracantha angustifolia). The latter shrub has white flowers and small, reddish fruit in pomes covering the branches. Anyone keen to find narrowleaf firethorns growing in the wild should go to the Garrotxa woods.
The same overall pattern of trees and understorey can also be seen on the side facing the sea. A notable feature here are the sculpted cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens). The parterres also boast magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora), nettle trees (Celtis australis) and tipu trees (Tipuana tipu) intermingled with roses of Syria (Hibiscus syriacus), glossy privets
(Ligustrum lucidum) and Japanese mock oranges (Pittospuorum tobira) in the form of a considerably large shrub.
A wooden platform is surrounded by specimens of cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), wide-branched cypresses (Cupressus macrocarpa and sempervirens), tipu trees (Tipuana tipu) and more magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora).
Art and Architecture
The Vall d’Hebron Senior Citizens Centre is housed in a building located at one end of the gardens. There are urban allotments behind the centre and pétanque courts in front. The side that borders on the Ronda de Dalt has a green space mounted on a slope with trees and shrubs, highlighting their role as insulators of the background traffic noise.
A paved walkway divides the space into two, breaking the continuity of the gravel. Stretching from sea to mountain, it acts as a connecting corridor between the streets. That creates a small square at the end opposite the senior citizens’ centre. There is also a small star-shaped platform, like the parterres in the gardens.
Landscaping and Design
The Jardins de Frida Kahlo are part of a very wide green corridor that also includes other gardens and squares, namely the Jardins de Can Bassó, Plaça de les Sibil·les, Plaça de Joan Cornudella, Plaça de Josep Pallach, the Jardins de Rosa Luxemburg and the park on Av Estatut, and which crosses Barcelona from sea to mountain, that is, from the Parc de la Ciutadella to the Collserola mountain range. This is a corridor that joins up the green spaces of Parc del Guinardó, Parc del Carmel and Park Güell with the green spaces of the Vall d’Hebron, Parc de les Heures and even the large green lung of Collserola through the Vall d’Hebron part.
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- Titularity
- Public center
- Address:
- Berruguete, 85
- Districte:
- Horta-Guinardó
- Neighborhood:
- la Vall d'Hebron
- City:
- Barcelona