There is something sinister about a landscape of rusted metal: a corroded car off the highway, a forgotten Midwestern town, or a decaying seaport. The visceral response to the rambling, dark red oxide could come from its resemblance to blood or from the reminder of our own inevitable oxidation. Or maybe it’s just a fear of tetanus.
Rusted metal is often cast into junkyards as an unusable, unsightly material but that’s too bad. There’s a certain charm in rust. Borrowed from the designs of landscape architects, here are 10 genius garden hacks using rusted metal (Cor-Ten steel included).
Woven Fence
Entry Gate
Sculptural Interest
Matching Facade & Fence
Permeable Pathway
Planter Box
Designer Julie Farris created a Cor-Ten steel box overflowing with Korean boxwood for a New York City garden. For more, see Before & After: From “Fishbowl” Townhouse Garden to Private Oasis in Manhattan.
Retaining Wall
Cor-Ten steel forms a garden’s walls and stairs and mint, chives, chard, and tomatoes fill discreet stepped beds in a contemporary landscape in Connecticut designed by Thomas Woltz of Nelson Byrd Woltz. For more, see The Landscape Designer Is In: Playing Matchmaker Between a House and its Site.
Landscape Edging
Fire Pit
Curb Appeal
See more Cor-Ten steel:
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