Installed the planters this afternoon, plenty of exercise lugging them up 2 floors on a hot, humid day. No major snags although the holes drilled for draining the zinc and for services required a lot of cleaning up, fiddly because they are all quite inaccessible. A trial offering of a pair of planters also showed that the bases had suffered a lot distortion in the galvanizing process. The resulting bulges used up all design tolerances making the threading of securing bolts through the handrail standards impossible. A few well aimed (and one not so well aimed) bashes with a sledge-hammer pushed the bulges in-board and although a tight fit, the bolts now just about work.
The planters look good in the sunshine when they all reflect light, less good when overcast because the differing galvanizing patterns are more evident, but longer term they should all go matt grey with a more even appearance.
I plan to plant in the autumn but need some irrigation up and running. Also thinking of insulating the planters internally, they really heat up in the sunshine, this should also provide some protection against frost in winter wind.
Some final touches for now; block the drainage holes with bungs, except perhaps one per planter with a short length of overflow pipe / pack up the outer edge on the brickwork to level the planters up and check for even spacing.
Planters give more of a sense of enclosure and when combined with the planting will soften the views in and out. The species of plants can be fine tuned to give varying heights to suit each location - (these photos are taken from seated position). The aim is to blend the planting in the foreground with more distant greenery
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