Garden design with metal – 5 ideas plus decoration tips



If you want to design your garden with metal, you can combine practical objects with decorative accents. Let our ideas inspire you.

Garden design with metal
© stockpics – Fotolia.com

Fortunately, how a garden should look like is not defined. Admittedly, there are certain planting rules in allotment gardens, but you don’t have to let yourself be talked into it when it comes to cosiness. Some like it simple, others very flowery and still others attach most importance to ample garden decoration. Ultimately, however, there is a corner for relaxation in every garden. What is certain is that a garden is a living space, just like one’s own home. You want to feel at ease and implement your very own personal style in the design.

Metal plays an important role here – more than ever at the moment – because it fits in with the garden ambience and vintage furnishing is currently very much in vogue. Old metal, combined with new objects, flowers, bushes and trees, give your garden an “iron charm”. The following ideas are not only meant to decorate your garden with metal, but to combine the useful with the beautiful.

❶ Metal demarcation and privacy protection

Metal fence
© zeralein – Fotolia.com

Who wants to arrange its garden predominantly with metal, which begins with it best already with the demarcation. So that your personal design style is already apparent at first glance, you should choose a garden fence made of metal – provided this is necessary at all because of the location of the property. You can choose from a wide range of colours and designs, such as smooth fence panels or struts decorated with ornaments. No matter which design you choose, metal fences are definitely more robust than similar wooden variants. You should only make sure that it is a hot-dip galvanized or coated fence, in which case it will remain protected from the weather for longer.

If you only want to protect yourself from prying eyes, a privacy panel may be sufficient. Besides the numerous wood variants, there are also models made of metal here. These are usually closed walls, or steles with motifs (free-standing slabs or columns). You can get a first impression of what is possible in terms of size and colour on the website of Metalltechnik Dermbach.

Gabions Metal
© U. J. Alexander – Fotolia.com

Tip: By the combination of metal panels and gabions, the whole picture of your garden is loosened up, without losing the interesting metal character.

❷ Combining design with utility

Rankpavillon
© Sir_Oliver – Fotolia.com

It should look nice and metallic, but if possible it should also be practical – do you know that? This wish can be fulfilled with a climbing pavilion. What can preferably be seen in large parks and splendidly laid out castle gardens can also make your garden something special.

The “big brother” of the rose arch is – correctly set in scene – surely the highlight of your green domicile. You should discuss your wishes and ideas with an expert and pay attention to the highest quality in order to get something from the new pavilion for a long time. My personal favourite from this area, an Eleo Pavilion, is available in many sizes and therefore also suitable for smaller gardens. When planting, you have the free choice, but you should make sure that they are perennial climbing plants – so that the pleasure lasts long. Impatient garden lovers are best advised to use fast-growing climbing plants, here is a small selection:

  • bell-shaped vine
  • sweet pea
  • magnificent wind
  • American climbing trumpet
  • hopper winch
  • honeysuckle
  • rose calyx
  • Japanese hops

❸ Corten steel garden fountain

Corten Steel Garden Fountain
Corten steel garden fountain from gartenbrunnen.net

The gentle ripple of a stream lends every garden a very special flair. But not everyone has a stream in their garden. The quickest way to integrate water features into your garden is with a garden fountain. Ideal for this are garden fountains made of Corten steel. Corten steel forms a protective layer when exposed to the weather. Thus it is permanently protected against rust and develops a very special patina.

❹ Metal seating furniture

Metal seating group
© Bertold Werkmann – Fotolia.com

A sitting corner should not be missing in any garden, cosiness stands thereby in the first place. When designing gardens with metal, it goes without saying that the seating furniture is also made of iron etc.. Whether in a Mediterranean turquoise colour, or rustic, with a natural patina, is left to your personal taste. Also remember to set surprising accents – for example with a small two-seater bench. If a tree adorns your garden, it can be used to drape a 360° round bench. The metal frame does not only look good, the tree bank will surely also become one of your favourite places in the garden.

❺ Fire bowl – for mild summer evenings

Fire Bowl Garden
© Cornelia Pithart – Fotolia.com

Let the evening end in the garden – whether with friends or with two – what could be more beautiful? Listen to the crackling of the flames with a metal fire bowl and enjoy the cosy warmth when it slowly gets cooler outside. Unlike fixed fireplaces, fire bowls can be set up flexibly.

Garden decoration – design ideas with metal

In addition to the larger design elements, it is above all the small things that give your garden its metallic flair. Click your way through our picture gallery and let yourself be inspired.


© Maho – Fotolia.com
Seat swing in the garden – “misappropriated” to the flower bench


© Fotolysis – Fotolia.com
Instead of the junk, this bike got a new paint job and a place in the garden.


© D. Ott – Fotolia.com
Eye-catcher in the garden: planted wheelbarrow


© D. Ott – Fotolia.com
Old watering can converted into a flower traffic light


© Kevin – Fotolia.com
Retro metal lantern on a natural wooden block


© D. Ott – Fotolia.com
Discarded zinc tub is an excellent flower container


© ClaraNila – Fotolia.com
Even if the well itself no longer works, this Schwengelpumpe is unique.

Don Burke

I am Don Burke, one of the authors at My Garden Guide.  I am a horticulturist that cultivates, grows, and cares for plants, ranging from shrubs and fruits to flowers. I do it in my own garden and in my nursery. I show you how to take care of your garden and how to perform garden landscaping in an easy way, step by step.I am originally from Sydney and I wrote in local magazines. Later on, I have decided, more than two decades ago, to create my own blog. My area of specialization is related to orchid care, succulent care, and the study of the substrate and the soil. Therefore, you will see many articles dedicated to these disciplines. I also provide advice about how to improve the landscape design of your garden.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

link to Pin Oak Tree

Pin Oak Tree

Pin Oak Tree (Quercus palustris) The pin oak tree (Quercus palustris) is a plant from the genus of oak trees in the family of the beech plants (Fagaceae). In temperate latitudes, it...