Having any form of upright element in your garden will create a space that has interest and versatility. For a garden design to work well, it needs to be functional and draw your eye to different features within the garden, but using walling, either brick or stone, can be time-consuming and expensive to construct.
In both commercial and domestic installations, cost effective, large fibreglass planters are being using to create back rests for garden seating, dividing up zones and even offering a method of screening when planting with bamboo or hedging.
Their exterior textures come in many varieties, with some designed to have a stone effect, which is great for more traditional gardens. They can be galvanised metal, corten steel or super gloss, but make sure it is frost resistant and UV protected against colour fade.
Planters are incredibly versatile and lightweight to install and can be used both indoors and outdoors. The planters themselves are completely hollow, so when filled with soil they will not move, making them ideal for back rests and walling. Wouldn’t it be far more appealing to have a partition wall filled with planting than just a sterile looking brick wall?
We recently used large dark blue containers to
divide a seating area from a path, which you can see in the pictures. The space could accommodate large planters, and due to their size, they created a focal point, but without detracting from the overall space. This was a great way to divide up the zones and keep the design within budget. Furthermore, the tall plants we used added height and added to the feel of a division.
Do not be afraid to experiment with planters, especially as they can be used to add colour and structure in a quick and easy way.