Corten Steel in the Garden

Corton Steel Planter at the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast

I have a fascination for garden pots and containers. A majority of shop bought ones are made from plastic, terracotta and concrete, but I was looking for something different. My search for variation prompted me to make my own over the past few years and so far I have tried hemp, hypertufa, paper and cardboard, clay and lime - all with different degrees of success (and some I class as a learning experience as they end up in the compost) 

This hasn’t deterred me though and I do find that I look in some unusual places for any type of container that could house a plant or two. One of my favourites of last year was an old 1930’s Bakelite banker’s lamp. I did try to fix the lamp initially but it kept blowing all the fuses in the house so I relegated (or promoted it depending on how you look at these things) to the garden. There it has happily been a receptacle for some glorious succulents that don’t need much space for their roots.  

Steel

This year I have great plans to make some containers out of steel. I have a few old galvanized fire buckets and cement planters painted with my special rusty paint mix (any leftover paint and iron dust if you want to know the recipe) but these just don’t seem to have the old decaying look I am after. I also don’t want to start planting into any old bits of rusty metal as the roses are enough of a tetanus threat already without introducing other hazards.

Titanic

I’m inspired by a visit to the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast this week. Of course the actual exhibition was fantastic, as the ship has always sparked my imagination. I also loved the building architecture and overall design of the public spaces though.  

The ten foot high wording and large ornamental planters have all been made from steel to compliment the industrial feel of the place. It’s not just your ordinary steel though, it has a name-Corten Steel, and I think you’ll be impressed at its uses in the garden.

Corten Steel

Corton Steel is popular with garden designers who have both large and small budgets. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show practically drooled over the 2010 The Daily Telegraph garden installation designed by Andy Sturgeon, which won Best in Show and prominently featured sculptural Corten screens.

Corten—or weathering steel—is typically used for landscaping and outdoor construction. It is made with alloys that cause its surface to develop self-protecting rust when exposed to weather, and this is what makes it different from regular steel. 

U. S. Steel developed the product in the 1930s and trademarked it as Cor-Ten; it was used primarily in railroad coal wagons. The insulating patina resists corrosion, requires no painting or weather-proofing, and doesn’t compromise structural strength. Once you see this steel you can’t ‘unsee’ it and you will realise it’s everywhere in design!

It’s been popular for a long time in building and became a go-to material for modernistic architecture and outdoor art in the 1950s and 1960s. Recently, the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead Tyne and Wear was made from Corten Steel.

Appreciation

Landscape designers appreciate Corten for more than its warm hue and the fact that the colour changes over the months and years. When initially installed it’s just a reflective steel, then it turns a yellow colour before numerous brown and gold tones and eventually grading down to a chocolaty colour depending on the weathering. 

The steel is generally available in sheet and plate form, its strength and durability combined with minimal thickness allows it to serve in situations where a concrete wall, for instance, would not fit or would visually overwhelm its surroundings. Corten has been used for walls, fire pits, edgings, dividers, planters, gate trims, and arbours; its versatility seems to be limited only by our imagination.

The planters at the Titanic Exhibition are delightfully simple and the salt air brings a special colour (and extra rust) to the metal, so I think it’ll be ideal for Inishowen. I even like the fact that over the years, rusty liquid will seep out and stain the concrete slabs the containers are sitting on. For me this adds to the beautiful thing we call the ageing process, and we are all experiencing that.

Small planters can be bought but they do seem to be very expensive so I think I am going to try and replicate the effect myself using anything I find that’s steel and can hold a plant. Old bean tins for a starter painted with rusty and sprayed with varnish.