building in the City of London

DESIGN

Metal

Metals come in many forms, from galvanised zincs to rusted steels and can look as at home in a garden as wood or stone, but it is their inherent strength and durability that makes them so useful for garden design

WORDS ANDY STURGEON

’m an advocate of natural materials. Wood and stone architecture it can be used as a really sophisticated finish for gates,

Iunderpin much of my work but I include metal in that list. railings and furniture and then artificially patinated and sealed. That You can dig it out of the ground, after all, although you have patination process is what you want because it introduces variety and to mix a couple of metals together to make bronze and depth in the colour, which is warm and glowing and not possible with other alloys. Its look can certainly become ‘natural’. This is any painted finish. It tends to be more dramatic and catches the light because it often oxidises, weathers and patinates bringing better on larger surfaces rather than the smaller details of railings. a warmth and richness to the finish. Metal is versatile. It can There are some good products developed for buildings that be fiercely modern or charmingly traditional and even rustic. You can translate to gardens. Roof cladding systems in particular. fashion a tiny detail, such as a hinge or a water spout, or something Pre-weathered zinc and copper are artificially aged so they remain vast like a monolithic wall. Its inherent strength and durability is stable and don’t weather further, which makes them reliable because fundamentally what makes it so useful. you know exactly how they will look in years to come and because

Corten steel is structural steel. It rusts on the outside and then of the intended use of the product, it won’t deteriorate. I’ve clad walls stops rusting with the core remaining intact. I designed large, curved and planters in various finishes that the manufacturers intended for sheets of it for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2001 having seen the the sides of sky scrapers or the roofs of factories. work of Richard Serra and its use in the Netherlands, particularly in The most common metal finish in a garden, and probably one of architecture. At first a bright, rich, the best solutions, is galvanised steel. orangey colour it darkens over time All metal fabricators can produce it, but always combined looks incredible when with any green foliage Metal is versatile. It can and long it’s relatively inexpensive lasting. Although shiny and at first it and for that fashionable reason has remained and continues to crop be fiercely modern or soon mellows combines well to a soft grey with timber, that which up every year at RHS Chelsea. It’s charmingly traditional and time will always turn a contrasting also maintenance free marked you can even and out if it the gets even rustic. You can fashion yet complementary This makes the two silver grey. materials finish by cleaning structural you can with use cola. Being it to make a tiny detail, such as a hinge, perfect and so bedfellows for on. Galvanised gates, pergolas steel will a robust screen, a staircase pergola, or a laser-cut a planter or or something vast like not draw attention is an asset in many to itself, which garden settings, a raised bed. It undoubtedly a monolithic wall unlike stainless steel, which can works best on a larger scale where often clamour for attention. it becomes a backdrop for planting, Stainless steel also has its place. rather than when it is used as The finish can be brushed rather a subtle, delicate detail. than polished but if you garden near the coast all metals will oxidise

Copper is a great material for the garden but it’s soft and not faster in the salt-laden air, copper will verdigris rapidly and even very strong so more useful for smaller objects, such as light fittings. stainless steel will rust unless it’s marine grade. Otherwise it can be used in sheets to clad a stronger internal core, It is not just what the metal is that’s important. It’s also how it’s perhaps a concrete planter or a steel water chute. When brand new made and put together. Most fabricators are engineers. They deal it’s bright and shiny but this doesn’t last long. Untreated copper with precise angles, flat finishes and perfect curves, which for some will quickly oxidise becoming darker at first and then verdigris projects is ideal. Artistic blacksmiths on the other hand bring an with that green patina of age, which is beautiful and unbeatable. entirely different skill to the party. Hammered finishes, forging of But if you want to retain that warm, rich old-penny look that’s metalwork and flowing curves made by eye with a fire, a hammer somewhere between shiny and green then you need to apply and an anvil. a wax finish once a year to seal it.

Bronze is similar in many ways and will fairly quickly settle into Andy Sturgeon is an internationally renowned landscape and the dark chocolatey brown of Landseer’s lions in Trafalgar Square. garden designer. He is the winner of eight Gold medals at the The difference is that it is very strong but is also prohibitively RHS Chelsea Flower Show, including Best in Show in 2019. expensive when used as anything more than a surface finish. A whole industry has now sprung up that sprays the molten metal on to a cheaper internal framework or surface. Increasingly popular in