Commercial Landscape Layouts with Planters and Panels

On a commercial site, planters and screens are layout tools. They mark an entry, hold the edge of a patio, divide a terrace into rooms and make a rooftop usable, without building a wall. Start from what each space has to do, who moves through it and who will look after it; sizes and finishes follow from that.

Entries: frame the door, keep the route clear

A matched pair of tall planters on either side of a door is the simplest way to mark an entrance. Lay out the accessible route, door swings, snow clearing and deliveries first. Your designer or local code sets the clear widths, and the planters fit around them rather than narrowing them.

Our stocked Rectangular Planter comes in 40 × 12 × 20 in and 40 × 12 × 30 in (length × width × height). The narrow footprint leaves room on a tight walkway, and the taller size lifts planting toward eye level.

Patios: hold the edge with a run

Restaurant, café and amenity patios usually need a clear edge between seating and the sidewalk, lane or parking. A run of long, low planters draws that line while keeping sightlines open, and the planting softens the view from both sides.

Made-to-order Rectangular Planters are priced instantly at 16–228 in long, 12–72 in wide and 11–48 in high, in 0.25 in steps, and larger sizes are built on a written quote, so the run can be sized to the patio instead of the patio to the planter. Lengths over 114 in are built in joined modules that sit end to end.

Where a patio also needs shelter from wind or from a neighbouring view, add laser-cut aluminum screens behind the planters. The privacy screen ideas guide covers patterns and supports.

Terraces and amenity decks: rooms, not walls

On multifamily, hospitality and care-community terraces, planters and partial screens can split one open deck into places to eat, sit and garden. Keep lines of sight where staff need to see across the space, leave room for wheelchairs and walkers between groups of furniture, and keep drains, hose bibs and doors reachable.

For resident gardens, a Raised Garden Bed brings the soil up to the gardener. Stock beds come in footprints from 2 × 4 ft to 5 × 10 ft and heights of 12, 20 and 26 in; the taller beds mean less bending.

Rooftops: weight comes first

On a roof or podium, the planter is the smallest part of the load and wet soil is the largest. A 40 × 12 × 20 in planter weighs about 25 lb empty and 350–460 lb filled to the rim with saturated lightweight rooftop mix. Check any size in the planter weight calculator and read the rooftop planning questions before placing anything. The building's engineer decides what the structure can carry and where.

One palette across the site

Repeating one planter form and one finish at the entry, patio and terrace makes a property read as a whole. Stock finishes are Semi-Gloss Black and Semi-Gloss White. Made-to-order planters add Fine-Texture Black, Textured Silver Vein and Custom RAL colour. Judge colour outdoors on a physical sample, next to the paving and cladding, rather than on a screen.

Planting against metal

Grasses, boxwood, clipped evergreens and loose perennials all read clearly against a simple metal edge. Plan for the plants' mature size, how they will be watered and who will prune them. Where the planting is edible, as in a resident garden, confirm the soil and any liner are suitable for growing food.

Design the maintenance in

A layout that cannot be maintained will not look like the drawing for long. Keep drain outlets, irrigation valves and inspection points reachable, route hoses and drip lines out of walkways, and decide early who waters, who clears drains and who replants each season.

From layout to schedule

1. Mark each planter and screen on a site plan with its length × width × height, quantity and location.
2. Keep single modules separate from overall run lengths.
3. Note the finish for each line and whether a stock size will do.
4. Group the lines by phase and delivery address.
5. Share the schedule and any drawings through the project form: Send your plans.

Planter lead time is 2–8 weeks, depending on size and schedule, confirmed on each quote. Quotes answered within 24–48 hours. We fabricate and ship to Canada and the United States; your contractor installs. To price one size now: Price your sizes. For the whole site: Get a project quote.