I just thought whilst I was photographing, listing, measuring and generally sorting what planters and window boxes I have made it would be a nice idea to introduce myself properly. 

This is my world of Metal Garden Planters. 

Welcome, my name is Fiona, I have 2 children (12 and 9) 1 mini dachshund and an OAP Cat who thinks he is a teenager still. I live in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, famous for being voted the most boring town in the UK one year, being the birth place of myself, Margaret Thatcher, Doris Stokes and Sir Isaac Newton to name a few. 

The image is of me, no makeup, not having done my hair and dressed for the cold,  about to set off in my VW Flatbed, with some roofing sheets on the back. I sell a variety of Box Profile and Corrugated roofing sheets, and manufacture the flashings to finish the edges in house. It was from the waste I was generating in terms of making the flashings which lead me down the path of making metal boxes. 

I was on the hunt for an office bin one day, and the cost shocked me, let alone the fact they are all fairly boring looking so after some cutting, measuring, and general faffing with the Guilloline (not the kind the Frenchman used to lop off the heads of Aristocracy) but a blade which can cut thin metal sheeting safely, and my bending machine (its clamp with a lever that once lifted puts a fold in a metal sheet in its simplest form) A bright yellow tall, square bin was created, and 6+ years later it is still used daily. 

So thats how I started, if you have any specific questions for future blog posts I would be happy to answer them, in the meantime I will continue selecting troughs, and planters along with a special gardeners gift pack I am pulling together. 

Fiona
Welcome! I run my own small roofing business, and during the process of manufacturing Roofing and Cladding flashings (the bits on the roof which cover the edges of the sheets & the hide the joins) I noticed I was generating  a significant amount of waste metal. The scrap man would and did take it away,  but I felt I could do something more useful with it, after all it was a shame to throw so much away so I decided to try and make a box. This box became my office waste paper bin, to be fair it was then an easy leap in my mind to decide to on the bright idea of making them planters.Thus the garden planter / composter / herb garden was born.I now manufacture various sizes of Metal Garden Planters, in a variety of colours, and plain unfinished metal, plus the corrugated versions and sell them for countless uses. I say, I, because it is me who designs, cuts, measures, bending, drills, and packs each planter by hand, by myself. Each is unique, that is one reason why I name them, they aren’t mass imports, they are lovingly made by hand, individually and are built to last. To name some of my recent work, Car Park edging at School Outdoor space for various cafe's, bars, social clubs and pubs, I even created over 100 corrugated planters for a container artist village at the docks in London! Roof Terrace gardens in Bristol, Cardiff, & London Create Mini Front Gardens for various Terrace Houses around the Country Planters for Caravan Patios, custom made ones for the decoration of Hot Tubs, and to mask  the edging of Greenhouses I can make multi sized in depth, length and height planters for getting plants at different levels in the garden, whilst adding that splash of colour for a real contemporary feel. These also benefit those with kneeling or bending issues, as I can make waist height planters to ease the strain. Edging for Vegetable patches Capping for the top of Wooden Fence Panels and much moreMy name is Fiona, I aim to repurpose my waste metal, and enable those without garden space but with a window or accessible rooftop or terrace the opportunity to grow some veg, herbs or flowers.If you have a small space, some light, some water then you could grow fresh salad veg, or brighten up an area with flowers to encourage the dwindling bee population perhaps.Regardless of your need, I would love to hear from you if you would like something repurposed created for your space.happy planting! 

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