Putxet is a 178-metre-high hill that extends from Vallcarca to Sant Gervasi. Despite talk of a chapel in the 17th century, the first-known traces of any population there only date back to 1870, when Barcelona’s bourgeoisie began to have their villas built there to escape the urban conditions of the old Barcelona. The land was part of the old Torre Espanya estate, which belonged to the Morató family. The Morató family is the name of a dynasty of Catalan sculptors and architects from Vich who developed their work during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. They are one of the most important Catalan artists of the Modern Age. In 1917 it was included in the green-area plans, which kept the city’s hills as natural spaces, but it was gradually urbanised. By the time the City Council made a compulsory purchase of the land now occupied by the present gardens in 1970 the old, originally Mediterranean, wood had become barren land, used as a stone quarry from the first third of the 20th century. The wood taken from the pine grove at the top of the hill was an important source of fuel during the Spanish Civil War.
The gardens’ vegetation changes as you ascend, because the higher you go, the poorer the soil for planting. That does not mean, however, that the vegetation loses its quality, far from it. A good example of this are the exceptional and very tall conifers you will find mainly on the upper half of the gardens. The Aleppo pine trees, stone pines, Himalayan cedars, holm oaks and olive trees also stand out here. As you go down you will come across coojongs, Indian bead trees and acacias. You will also see peppercorn trees and a few oleasters.
The small squares mainly contain tipu trees, pagoda trees, southern nettle trees, some plane trees and palm trees, quite a bit below, towards the garden entrance, notably several specimens of Mediterranean dwarf palms, yuccas and cypresses. When it comes to rare specimens, the shrubs excel, offering uncommon species such as Limoniastrum monopetalum, lobelias, ragworts, duranta, baby sage with a minty aroma, and sweet briar, a fairly abundant creeper shrub in the garden that fills with yellow flowers in the winter.
