04 Mar Clean Up Your Outdoor Space with Cor-ten
While Cor-ten, or weathering steel, was originally developed for practical reasons, landscape and garden designers love its attractive aesthetic. The patina weathering steel acquires over time blends well with stone, wood, plants, and other outdoor elements. In fact, The Wall Street Journal listed using Cor-ten as a top trend in garden design in 2019.
Clean up your outdoor space with Cor-ten
Using weathering steel for landscape applications is an effective way to define space, create borders and privacy, and add various features to an outdoor area. The color, texture and clean lines of weathering steel make it ideal for modern landscapes and gardens.
Plus, it offers advantages over other metals, such as low maintenance, high-strength, enhanced durability and cost savings. Essentially, weathering steel’s “rusty” appearance and practical benefits allow it to be used in places where a concrete wall or other material is not fitting.
8 ways to use weathering steel in your outdoor space
As a corten-equivalent steel supplier, Central Steel Service specializes in the distribution of specialty weathering steel products for garden design, landscaping and other outdoor applications. Here are 8 ways to use weathering steel in landscape and garden design:
- Landscape Edging: Cor-ten steel landscape edging is simple to use and an effective way to define space around plants or along driveways and sidewalks.
- Retaining Walls: Cor-ten steel retaining walls are not only practical, but also look clean and polished in outdoor spaces. A boulder or concrete block retaining wall may get the job done, but it won’t achieve the contemporary look that a cor-ten retaining wall provides.
- Planter Boxes: Cor-ten steel planter boxes can serve multiple purposes in an outdoor space. They not only serve as a place to plant but also as a border or decorative barrier!
- Raised Beds: Like planter boxes and retaining walls, cor-ten can be used to construct raised beds or gardens. Thin edges, like those created by weathering steel, are great because the raised beds will not take up more space than necessary.
- Fencing, Gates and Privacy Screens: The properties and versatility of cor-ten make it effective for constructing fencing, gates, and privacy screens that are often required to complete an outdoor space.
- Bollards: Bollards are short, sturdy posts that create a barrier in parks, landscapes and other outdoor spaces. They are often used to guide traffic and protect pedestrians and/or property.
- Roofing and Awnings: Needing some shade? Cor-ten can be used to construct roofs and awnings over outdoor spaces.
- Water and Fire Features: Last, but certainly not least, cor-ten can be used to construct fire pits and water fountains. These features are a must-have in outdoor spaces used for entertaining!
Ultimately, weathering steel’s usefulness is only limited by a landscaper’s, gardener’s, or architect’s imagination. Contact Central Steel Service today to see how weathering steel can be used in your next project!