Wrought iron is an elegant addition to landscape design. It can be used in a beautifully functional way or purely for decoration. Wrought iron makes a strong statement when used as a garden gate, a grill insert in a fence, a balcony railing or an impressive front door. As decoration, it can accent porch columns, showcase an outdoor water fountain and adorn a garden gazebo.
You will find a remarkable variety of artistic motifs done in decorative iron, from the refined figuration of the Renaissance to the sensual and sinuous designs of Art Nouveau. Both intricate and graceful, it creates an eloquent vocabulary in your landscape and expresses our individuality.
In its functional usage, decorative iron is most often used for security and privacy. In fact, there are those design professionals who believe that, because it is a strong material, it works best where it displays its intrinsic strength.
Ornamental iron fences, driveway gates or window balconies are just a few of iron’s utilitarian purposes. The beauty of iron, however, is that by adding the small decorative details, such as dainty flowers or pleasing trefoils, the ordinary and practical become extraordinary.
For aesthetic purposes, however, iron is limited only by your imagination. A decorative iron chandelier in an outdoor kitchen. Accent pieces on doors, such as knobs, door knockers, locks and hinges. Garden arches. Friezes, copings and finials. Garden arbors.
One design note: while decorative iron enhances any landscape, it needs to work with the extant motifs. A gate done in an Italian design from the Rococo period doesn’t work well with a Colonial style house, for example. So use discrimination when picking the design of your choice.
From an historic perspective, true wrought iron is only made in small quantities today and primarily for preservation projects. Most steel products found in modern landscaping materials are made of mild steel which has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to manipulate.
The old nomenclature still applies, though, because the modern steel balustrades, balconies and flower boxes (and a hundred other landscape items you could name) retain the original look handed down to us from the Middle Ages. As does our delight in this stalwart substance.
Perhaps Samuel Yellin, the Polish-born iron artisan and blacksmith of the early 20th century, best describes our enthusiasm for wrought iron. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1906 and his work was eventually commissioned across the country. It can be found in nearly 40 states.
He said, “I love iron. It is the stuff of which the frame of the earth is made. And you can make it say anything you will. It eloquently responds to the hand, at the bidding of the imagination. When I go to bed at night, I can hardly sleep because my mind is aswarm with all the visions of gates and grilles and locks and keys I want to do. I verily believe I shall take my hammer with me when I go to the gate of heaven. If I am denied admission, I shall fashion my own key.”
For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.
We know beauty when we see it, whether it is great grandeur or an unadorned and small wonder. In a garden, few things match the simple beauty of a wrought iron arbor. A wrought iron arbor conveys strength while functioning as a background for leafy-green and flowering vines. It is that mix of hard a...
For a practical and yet sumptuous finishing touch to your landscape design, consider custom ordering iron wall planters. These planter boxes, substantial, well-made and decorative, could add the final element to the overall look and atmosphere you want to create for your landscape.
Are you looking for something that is a little different or one of a kind for your landscape design? If so, consider an antique wrought iron piece. It works perfectly in spaces of any size; a small courtyard, at a front door, in a large garden, as part of an estate, to name a few examples.
The wrought iron garden gate is iconic in the human imagination. It is the stuff of fairy tales. It calls forth kings and queens and castles. It evokes secret places, maybe even magical ones. It can convey simplicity and warmth and hospitality. We have made the wrought iron garden gate into many thi...
It is at least a 1,000 year old art form in Spain and about a 700 year old one in France. Some of the earliest settlers of the New World brought it with them to these shores. The strength and beauty of wrought iron design has captivated us for centuries.
Wrought iron gates provide safety, secured access and, ultimately, peace of mind to homeowners. One security matter that must be addressed when discussing gates is what type of lock to use.
Wrought iron wall elements can be used to focus the eye and add beauty to outdoor spaces. By providing architectural detail, wrought iron wall elements put the finishing touch on an outdoor room, patio design or outdoor kitchen.
A wrought iron fence takes a utilitarian structure and turns it into an expression of your individuality. By definition, fences are functional. That is, they are enclosures that present an adequate blockade around a yard or other such expanse of land for the purpose of security, primarily prohibitin...
A wrought iron driveway gate finishes off your property in an imposing way by saying something about sustainability and substantiality. They are valued for aesthetic reasons and for its practical uses. Simply put, wrought iron driveway gates add panache to your landscape design.
In your landscape design, a wrought iron trellis creates an accessory accent. It gives the eye a place to rest when viewing the landscape as a whole. Most often, wrought iron trellises are paired with plants, usually a vine, to give the plants an acceptable place to climb to higher places.
Just as a well-chosen front door delivers a message about the homeowner, garden gates convey a lot of information as well. With garden gates, you have the opportunity to make a statement.
