GRC Orleans Planter

The GRC Orleans Planter is a rounded, egg profile pot in glass reinforced concrete, in two sizes: 56 x 51cm at 100 litres, and 76 x 69cm at 250 litres. The curve is the point of it. In a courtyard already full of straight lines, brick, paving and fencing, a round planter softens the scheme instead of adding another edge.

Why you'll love it

• A shape that settles a hard courtyard. The rounded profile reads as sculpture, so it holds its own unplanted as well as planted.
• Serious volume, easy weight. 250 litres of mix in a pot that weighs 23kg empty, so you can position it yourself and change your mind later.
• Eleven finishes. The standard corten style rust plus ten Dulux Weathershield custom spray colours, guaranteed 15 years against blistering, peeling and flaking. Shades outside the ten are sprayed on request for an extra $60.

Sizes and what fits in them

All measurements are outside dimensions, diameter by height.

• 56 x 51cm, 100 litres, 13kg. A clipped ball of buxus or westringia, a compact grevillea, or a large lomandra. Good as a matched pair either side of an entry.
• 76 x 69cm, 250 litres, 23kg. Enough soil for a small tree to sit for years: a dwarf citrus, a frangipani, or a standard olive.

Material, weathering and drainage

Material. Glass reinforced concrete is a concrete shell reinforced with glass fibre. It gives the texture and presence of cast concrete without the mass, which is why a 250 litre planter comes in at 23kg empty.

Outdoors. The custom spray finishes are Dulux Weathershield. We publish no frost rating for the range, so treat hard frosting districts as untested rather than assume the finish will cope.

Drainage. It is drilled to drain. Keep the holes clear, stand the planter on feet, and screen each hole with fibreglass flyscreen, not fabric or geofabric, which clogs. Lay 50mm of 10mm gravel, then a premium potting mix, never garden soil. Under cover it needs a tray, and aggressive rooted plants will damage a planter of any kind.

What to expect when it arrives

Planters ship empty, packed to travel upright. Rust dispatches in two to five business days; custom spray colours are made to order, so allow two to three weeks. The 76 x 69cm arrives at 23kg, so one person can walk it into place and set it on feet before any mix goes in. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95.

Related pots and planting

• See the egg and round pot range
• Other concrete and stone planters
• Repotting an established plant properly