6 Ways to Select & Specify Commercial Custom Planters

At PureModern, our motto is “Your Vision. Our Containers.” Our specialty is manufacturing custom planters that meet your specifications and budget.

In our current eCommerce culture, there is an overwhelming amount of options for commercial planters to choose from. To help in that decision, we advise investing in a designer with the expertise to create a successful and sometimes award-winning space. If you are a business owner looking to redo a space, we highly recommend an expert in the field. It may seem like a big upfront cost, but the decision comes with long-term benefits.

If you are a designer, you require and sometimes depend on your manufacture’s expertise to help decipher your vision into reality. When it comes to new construction or updating an existing space, the budget, and needs of the space are the limiting factors.

Designing a new space has its benefits in that there is more flexibility in design. With existing spaces, you may find challenges because of a cinder or brick wall that cannot be moved or a terrace with a fixed parapet. The challenge is optimizing the space for customers and, at the same time, creating a verdant landscape.

When a commercial space needs to be designed and a planter is specified, we want you to know exactly what shape, size, material, and color options you have at your fingertips. If you don’t see a planter on puremodern.com that fits your vision, there are five different aspects to think about when specifying a custom planter: planter material, shape, size, color, and drainage. Once you have thought about all the various aspects, fill out our request a quote form, tell us what you need, and we will email you a quote.

1. Planter Materials

There are many different planter materials, each with its own benefits. A few of them are fibrecrete, molded plastic, concrete, fiberglass, ceramic, metal, cast stone, clay, wood, polystone, and terracotta. The challenge is knowing what material best fits your planting plan.

Metal and fiberglass are the planter material that is used most often for custom planter options simply because of the short lead time and customizability.

Helpful tips for picking out the right planter material for your project:

• Need the organic look of wood? Clad an aluminum planter with a suitable outdoor rated wood such as FSC-certified ipe.
• Doesn’t metal rust? Metal does rust unless the right metal is selected, like the marine-grade aluminum that is used for our planters.
• I like the COR-TEN weathered look and plan to use it for an indoor application. Unfortunately, COR-TEN has to be outside to patina, but we have a few powder-coated colors that mimic the COR-TEN look. Contact us to discuss this.

Metal Planters

The right selected metal planters will not rust; unless designed to. If the planter is fabricated correctly and is made with a metal that is designed to withstand constant contact with moisture, your metal planter will not rust.

Modern Elite Aluminum Planters: PureModern’s aluminum planters are made of marine-grade aluminum that is then powder coated and will withstand the elements and not rust.

• Suitable for marine environments
• Suitable for interior or exterior applications
• Can be manufactured to be watertight, so there is no need for liners
• Custom size, shape, and colors are available

COR-TEN Weathering Steel Planters: Custom COR-TEN Weathering Steel Planters are inherently made to withstand the elements. As the material patina’s it creates a protective organic coloring.

• Not suitable for marine environments due to saltwater
• Use in outdoor applications only
• This material will stain the surrounding space as it weathers
• Custom size and shapes are available

Fiberglass

Fiberglass planters are constructed of layers of fiberglass that are painted with architectural grade paint that will withstand the elements.

• Usually less overall cost than other planters
• Customizable with a color of your choice
• Available to purchase in more unique shapes

2. Planter Coatings and Color

Modern Elite Aluminum Planters with a red powder coat

Designing a commercial space includes procuring items that have their own textures and color options. Tying all these elements together is challenging, especially when the journey consists of discovering the sentiment a business is portraying.

Marketers and designers know that color theory, the science and art of using color, has a profound effect on the consumer whether the colors are on a brochure, logo, or in a space. The color spread in a space might include the tabletop color, flooring, wall color, or lighting fixtures.

When creating the palette for a commercial space, we want you to know that we are here to help with color selection by providing free color swatches. Getting a color sample before purchasing the product will allow you to make sure your color choice fits your palette and not too blue or too pink.

Helpful tips about planter color options:

• Free Color Samples of Fiberglass color options
• Free Modern Elite Aluminum Planter samples
• RAL color guide
• The paint on fiberglass is not going to exactly match the powder coating on aluminum, so we suggest you not combine materials if they are going to be right next to each other
• If a wood planter is what fits the design best, consider cladding an aluminum planter with wood to combine the organic feel of wood and the industrial feel of metal
• Are your planters continually covered with graffiti? We do have an available clear coat that we can put on planters that will allow you to remove it easily

Options for color:

• Aluminum planters are powder-coated. A powder-coated finish is done by first using a dry powder that is sprayed on metal, electronically charged, so the powder sticks to the planter and then cured in an oven. The curing process creates a hard, long-lasting finish. When a certain color is desired other than our stock colors, you will have an option of any color on the TIGER Drylac color profiles.
• The fiberglass is primed and then painted. It is important to note that, at PureModern, we paint our fiberglass planters in a paint booth (similar to the way one paints a car), and we use automotive, commercial-grade paint on all fiberglass planters. This paint is baked in an oven or left to cure. There are hundreds of colors to choose from, so let us know what color you desire, and we will locate a suitable match from our industrial-grade paint color options.

3. Planter Shapes

Custom Planters at Villa BXV in Bronxville, NY

The final planting plan of the planter will dictate the shape that is needed. For example, a rooftop in Miami needing to withstand hurricane winds will need a different planter solution than a terrace in Chicago. A ground-level restaurant with outdoor seating on a concrete sidewalk will need a different planter than the new build-out that requires a certain percentage of pervious ground for the site stormwater requirements to be satisfied.

Helpful tips about planter shape options:

• Marine-grade aluminum planters can be made in pretty much any geometric shape.
• Fiberglass planters are more restrictive with custom shapes as a new shape can take up to 4-5 months.
• COR-TEN can be made into any geometric shape except for a cylinder and are for outdoor applications only
• The Connect Modular Planter System is available in aluminum. Use this system if a continuous run of planters is desired that is particularly pleasing in a design that follows the parapet of a terrace or rooftop
• Bottomless Retention Edging Planers are ideal when the existing ground substrate can be utilized as a part of the pervious ground that is needed in more urban areas.
• Toe kicks can be added to create an illusion of a floating planter
• Top lips can be added to create a more traditional look
• Special cutouts to accommodate benches or other planter shapes or materials is possible
• An internal shelf can be added for tower planters when the greenery being planted does not require the entire planter for growing space

Options for shape:

• Rectangular
• Square
• Round
• Uniquely shaped planters
• Continuous run, Modular planters
• Bottomless Planters

 4. Planter Sizes

47" L rectangular planters surround an eating area at Laurel Park Raceway

The size needed for a planter has mostly to do with the application and design but also to do with how the planter is going to get to its final resting spot. The planter will need to be shipped either by regular shipping or by LTL on a pallet that is either custom made or shipped on a standard pallet that is 4 ft x 4 ft. For example, a very long continuous run of planters that are bolted together will need to be shipped in sections and then moved up the elevator or to the front of the building.

Helpful tips when it comes to planter size:

• A custom metal planter can be as long as 115 inches. If a length longer than that is desired, we suggest our Connect Modular Planter System
• For a continuous run of planters, choose the Connect Modular Planter System
• Looking to plant a dwarf tree, such as a crape myrtle? Choosing the right container depends on the tree that is in the planting plan
• If a certain length and height of a planter is desired, we suggest going to our collection page by clicking here, then look to the left side of the collection page, select your range of length and height that you desire. Using our tagging system, all the planters that fit your search will appear. If you do not see your desired planter, please request a quote with your desired specification, and we will manufacture your planter for you

Options for size:

• Long Planter: The Trough Planter is one of our longest fiberglass planters, which is offered in 63” L x 24” W x 24” H
• Tall Planter: The Lloyd Vase Planter is one of the tallest fiberglass planters at 59” H
• Wide Planter: Bottomless Retention Edging Aluminum Planters
• Tabletop Planter: A good size for a tabletop planter is the PurePots Balboa Low Rectangle Fiberglass Planter - 4112LR 36" L X 24" W X 12" H
• Endcap Planter: To span the width of where a row of desks end could be Modern Elite Rectangular Planter at 46” L x 24” H x 10” W
• Divider Planter: Modern Elite Divider Planter

5. Planters That Play Double-Duty

Green privacy wall is created using Modern Elite Planters at 613 Baltic, Brooklyn, NY

When the budget is being scrutinized, but there are multiple needs in a small or large space, we advise getting creative and using the planter as a foundation to attach required elements such as lights for a pathway, living walls, or benches.

Helpful tips when using planters for more than just adding greenery to a space:

• Create a biophilic space by adding growing platforms such as a trellis to planters for growing vines to create a living wall that separates a space on a rooftop or a wind guard at a beachside restaurant.
• Add lights to the side of a planter to light a dark walkway 
• Hide electrical wiring through a modular planter system
• Add castors to planters to use them for flexible space design to make different room configurations

6. Planter Drainage for Custom Planter

The investment of a custom planter plus foliage, if not faux, will all go to waste if there is not a solid plan to keep the greenery alive. What is your plan for sustaining your investment?

There are a few ways to alleviate the chances of dead greenery:

• When planning the planter design, add holes that can be drilled in the base of the planter to insert drip irrigation system tubing
• Add micro-sprays to an existing sprinkler system
• Hire a plantscaper to come to your establishment to water and maintain the greenery
• Add a plant sipper to a planter, which will eliminate daily watering
• Hand water

 Projects with Custom Planters

• Continuous Trough Planter -- Rockefeller
• Custom Fiberglass Planters -- Scan Design
• Extra-large Custom Aluminum Planters -- Villa BXV
• Custom Planters made to fit around benches and round planters -- Westfield Valencia Town Center

We want your vision to become a reality, and sometimes that might entail a few conversations about options and costs. That is why we are here. We will take the time with you to hash out the big and small details. Even the most experienced designer has questions and may not realize that a particular option is available. We have been in this business since 2006 and, along with our fabrication facility, we are here to ensure the project is completed to your expectations.

Call PureModern to discuss and brainstorm ways to work within the constraints your site plan might have.