Commercial planters for a bar / restaurant - a tip on how to get a more interesting colour April 2, 2019 20:49

I was contacted by a bar / restaurant that wanted some wooden planters on wheels for one of its branches. That wanted a rustic look and liked the idea of using scaffold boards that were woodstained brown. I had never used scaffold boards before but ended up making these,

The woodstain I chose was Ronseal's Fence Life Plus in medium oak. I thought they looked horrible, the woodstain was more red than brown and the colour just looked cheap. I sent the above photo to the customer who wanted them darker. I then sprayed over this colour with Ronseal's Fence Life Plus in dark oak. I wasn't expecting much but as it dried I could see that the red tones of the medium oak were coming through the dark oak in places, resulting in a much richer and interesting colour. The end result was pretty much perfect. Conclusion: putting a dark coat over a light coat can lead to interesting interactions!

Today's wooden planter March 31, 2019 20:01

Made this wooden planter for a customer. It was his design and painted in Cuprinol's Forget-Me-Not.

Versailles wooden planters in Cuprinol's Urban Slate March 28, 2019 20:45

A customer requested some Versailles planters in Urban Slate, which along with Black Ash is probably the most requested colour. I hadn't painted any of this style of planter in this colour before so was looking forward to seeing how they turned out. I was pleased with them,

These wooden planters have just been dropped off at a shipping company where they will be transported to their new home near Bordeaux.

Versailles planters off to Denmark! March 26, 2019 21:01

A month or so ago I was contacted by a person in Denmark who said that he had seen my website and wanted to purchase some wooden planters. I was hesitant because the only courier company I could have used broke one of my wooden planters the one time I used them. However the customer persevered and offered to arrrange the transport so these planters are on their way to Denmark, my first foreign customer.

Versailles wooden planters delivered to the National Trust in Culumber Park March 23, 2019 18:14

Pleased to finally deliver these Versailles wooden planters to the National Trust in Culumber Park. They are painted with Cuprinol's Country Cream.

Wooden planters with trellis March 8, 2019 19:23

Delivered the above block style wooden planters with trellis to a customer this week. Cuprinol's Back Ash definitely the number one colour for our customers!

Wooden planter of the day March 4, 2019 20:07

Made a hexagonal wooden planter out of decking (two rows) today,

New wooden planter product! February 25, 2019 19:53

Made this wooden planter, a baby Versailles (as I call them) planter painted in Cuprinol's Ash Black. Customer seemed very happy and sent me this photo,

Just a reminder that I call them baby Versailles planters because these are suitable for small sized planters. I think this one is 70cm long by 25cm deep by 40cm high so our standard Versailles planters with 95mm corner posts would have looked ridiculous. Instead I use 45mm square corner posts and railings to give a better sense of proportion.

Wooden planters for a school project February 22, 2019 19:42

These wooden planters on wheels with trellissses were supplied to an inner city London school. The aim is to bring a bit of greenery to a concrete playground. Notice the planters use the smooth reverse side of the decking.

New corner wooden planter February 12, 2019 18:42

Our corner wooden planters are popular and we have many sizes and designs. However a customer wanted a much larger one: 5 rows of decking high and 150cm long in each direction (shorter sides are 30cm). Here is what we made,

Baby Versailles wooden planters versus standard Versailles planters February 7, 2019 19:56

Our Versailles wooden planters are the classic style of wooden planter found in many gardens.We have two types: standard Versailles planters and what I call our "baby" Versailles planters. What is the difference? I guess the main difference is in the chunkiness of the planters. The corner posts on our standard Versailles planters are 85mm square compared to 45mm for the baby version.The top and bottom rails are narrower too on the baby version. So the baby style Versailles wooden planters are for those wanting a smaller planter where the standard size would be too big.

Top photo shows the standard style Versailles planter, compared to the baby version in the bottom photo.

Cuprinol versus Farrow and Ball paint for wooden planters February 4, 2019 19:03

Cuprinol paint is probably the go-to paint for painting outside. It is reasonably priced (though no paint is cheap), easy to apply, available from any DIY store and comes in a wide choice of colours. You might be wondering how it differs from a more expensive paint such as Farrow and Ball's. I have used both, though given the price difference mostly Cuprinol.

The couple of times that I have used Farrow and Ball is when the customers have wanted to specifically match a particular colour. One customer already had window sills painted in Farrow and Ball's Vert de Terre so wanted that exact colour. The other customer wanted to use Farrow and Ball's Railings to match existing wooden planters. Now, if you are colour matching you don't necessarily need to use Farrow and Ball, any specialist paint shop can colour match a paint from the RA number. Leaving that aside here is my experience.

Cuprinol is very easy to apply. You just paint or spray on 2 - 3 coats of Cuprinol and that is it. The coats dry within an hour or two so not much time is needed. Farrow and Ball requires a primer, a couple of coats of undercoat, and a couple of top coats. You can buy primer and undercoat combined so that saves a bit of time but still it is a more time consuming process, and a more expensive one.

With all these extra coats is there a difference in the final appearance? I would say yes, the Farrow and Ball paint does look more luxuriant. However I wouldn't necessarily say it is worth the extra cost.

Here are wooden planters painted in Cuprinol's Urban Slate and Farrow and Ball's Railings,

Most popular colour for wooden planters February 2, 2019 20:15

When I first started making wooden planters I thought there would be a gap in the market for colourful planters, so the first wooden planters I made for the website were red, yellow, green, pink etc...and nobody wanted to buy them! People just wanted plain, unpainted planters. Over time I have realised that when customers want painted planters, they want more sombre, dare I say classy colours. The two most popular colours are definitely Cuprinol's Urban Slate and their Black Ash. I really like Urban Slate, but black wooden planters took a while to grow on me. Now though I understand the appeal of black planters:

Today's wooden planters January 31, 2019 20:18

These wooden decking planters are off to a caravan park in the Midlands,

One of my favourite uses for my wooden planters January 28, 2019 19:14

This small water feature is one of my favourite wooden planters that I have made. In truth all I did for the customer was make a four row high square container out of decking that the customer then lined and filled with water but I think it looks great. At night with the lights it must be something special.

Photo of a wooden planter from a happy customer January 24, 2019 19:34

Received this photo of a wooden planter from a happy customer, must be happy because they want another three of these.The corner colour is Cuprinol's Urban Slate and the horizontal tongue and groove slats are stained with a light oak woodstain.

Wooden planters being delivered today January 22, 2019 20:27

Delivered these wooden planters to a park earlier today,

Trellis for block style wooden planters with spaces between the rows January 20, 2019 18:33

Following on from the post about the block style wooden planters with spaces between the rows and how they arose from a customer's suggestion, the same can be said about the trellis for these planters. A customer wanted a trellis for these planters and our existing trellesses probably wouldn't have suited them. So we made a trellis in the style of these planters, they are heavy and solid, and customers appear to like them,

Block style wooden planters with spaces inbetween the rows January 18, 2019 18:00

One of our most popular style of planters we sell, block style woodne planters with spaces inbetween the rows, arose out of a suggestion from a customer. He wanted us to make a planter with these spaces, so thatthey had a more modern look. We use 45mm square timber for these wooden planters and a heavy duty polythene liner prevents the soil from escaping through the gaps. We make and sell them in all shapes and sizes, even corner ones which I don't think you can buy elsewhere.

Making new wooden planters look rustic January 16, 2019 19:58

These wooden planters were made for a company that supplies bars and hotels with landscaping, and ended up at a hotel in Aldgate, London. To get these planters looking old and worn, the new timber was burnt with a gas torch then roughed up with a metal brush to remove the burnt timber. This gave the deep grooves in the timber. The wooden planters were then stained before completing the look with a couple of coats of yacht varnish.

Today's wooden planter January 14, 2019 20:20

Made a small wooden planter out of decking this morning - the customer didn't want mitred corners,

As said before, we cater to all customers for wooden planters, big and small.

Wooden planters supplied to a bar January 12, 2019 17:49

As mentioned previously, we are sometimes asked to try to build a wooden planter to match a photo. We received the following photo from a design company that wished us to build a planter that matched it,

The timber in the photo is old reclaimed timber and the corners are rusted metal. The problem with trying to match this planter is that it is difficult to get reclaimed timber that looks "old," and the timber that is available is often too short (two of the planters needed to be over 1 metre long) and extremely expensive.

After a google search I decided to make new timber look old, and new metal rusty. To make new timber look old you just need to really water down the paint and apply it liberally. Rusting new steel requires an acid, with some vinegar and salt. The wooden planters I ended up supplying were these,

Wooden planter projects January 10, 2019 13:50

We make and provide wooden planters to all customers, from buyers of single planters to commercial customers such as bars, hotels, shops etc. Below are some photos from a school in inner city London that we were asked to provide planters to. They had a small courtyard that they wanted to make greener. They decided that they liked the smooth wooden planters best (the decking planters but with the boards flipped so that the smooth side is outside). They then added some seating to some of the planters for the young pupils to sit on,

Our wooden decking planters January 8, 2019 20:18

Wooden decking planters are probably our most popular wooden planter style. They are good value, strong, long lasting and can be easily painted or stained. Although there are many places where you can buy decking planters, I would say that the advantageous of ours lie in the quality of the decking boards, and the quality of the workmanship.

We could use cheaper, inferior decking boards but instead choose the best quality available, and the thickest width, 32mm. The corner posts are made from 45mm square lengths of timber, and so too are the feet. The ends of the feet are also coated with a clear wood treatment to prevent rot. All planters come with a thick polythene liner that has holes in the bottom to allow drainage.

In terms of the quality of the workmanship we do not mass produce, so we can make sure that each wooden planter is "right" e.g. ensuring that the corners of each row of decking are all correctly aligned. We also offer planters that have mitred corners which I believe gives a superior look. Mitring corners takes longer and is more tricky than simply butting up the corners, but is definitely worth it. However if you prefer the sharp lines of the butted corners we can do that, and we offer a slight discount on wooden planters with these corners reflecting the lower labour time necessary to make these.