Create a vintage-style garden with zinc planters

Galvanised garden containers, weathered with the seasons, provide perfect partners for your planting, from buckets to troughs

Whether you’re a green-fingered aficionado planning a spectacular spring bulb ‘lasagne’ à la Monty Don, or you just want somewhere pretty and practical to pop that parsley plant you picked up in the supermarket, a galvanised steel container is always an elegant and practical choice.

Jenny Vaughan from quirky homeware store RE always has a good selection of vintage zinc planters in stock, from £32 for a bucket. ‘We’ve always sold a lot of zinc and galvanised containers, but recently we’ve seen demand outstrip availability,’ she reveals. ‘Those lucky enough to have an outdoor space seem to have become obsessed with gardening.’

Old dolly tubs (once used for laundry), buckets, egg pails, baths, florists’ or flower sellers’ buckets, and even water tanks can all make excellent planters, as long as you drill drainage holes in the bottom of them. ‘Filling the base of your planter with gravel and pebbles can help with drainage too,’ advises Jenny. ‘A few strategic drill holes will do the trick. Consider the size, shape and positioning of holes depending on the plants you’re going to grow.’

Buckets are the least expensive option as they’re easy to get hold of, plus their handle makes for a particularly useful feature when you want to rearrange the patio or clear the decks to sweep up leaves. Delicate details such as seams and rivets enhance the beauty of zinc planters, while some finds – especially egg pails or salvaged water tanks – have lovely faded lettering or logos on them that further add to their appeal.

‘Galvanising is a treatment to inhibit rusting and most old zinc or galvanised containers were originally used for washing (or storing water in the case of cisterns and tanks), so they are very resilient,’ points out Jenny. ‘They can show signs of rust, depending on age, but some old containers have feet which lift them off the ground which helps prevent this.’ Putting flat-bottomed containers on plant-pot feet can also help.

‘Different sizes and shapes should be considered for different purposes,’ Jenny adds. ‘For example, dolly tubs are great for bay trees or small fruit trees and look good as a pair – perhaps positioned either side of a door. Baths planted up as a herb garden are handy near to the kitchen door for quick access to fresh ingredients.’

Scour antiques fairs, junk shops and salvage yards for the real deal, or check out the plethora of repro versions, many of which command prices equivalent to original antiques.

It’s the versatility of zinc planters that really makes them stand out from the crowd. ‘They work indoors and out, with both traditional and modern planting schemes, in both patios and gardens,’ says Jenny. ‘Their colour variation – every shade of grey – works well against all types of masonry, fences, walls and hedges.’

And some gardeners claim that zinc repels slugs and snails too, so that’s an extra perk if you don’t want your nasturtiums to be nibbled.

WORDS: ELLIE TENNANT