Once you have taken delivery of your Urbis Planter, there are some simple steps you need to take to ensure it stays looking beautiful.
Take the wrapping off your planter as soon as possible. Don’t leave it out in the rain with its wrapping on. Occasionally wet wrapping materials can mark the surface of the planters. Otherwise store it in a dry place until you are ready to plant up. Always store your Urbis planters on their bases!
All our planters are protected with a special coating which helps stop staining. If you do need to wipe down your planter just use water and a soft cloth to clean any excess debris and dirt from your planter. Be extra careful when cleaning metal surfaces not to scrub.
Care of your Urbis Water Bowl
If your water bowl is a still water bowl, then you need to give it a spring-clean every year, removing any excess algae, duckweed and dead leaves or flowers. Take precautions throughout the summer months by adding oxygenating plants and water snails to reduce algae. Cover two thirds of the surface with water lilies or other aquatic plants to maintain good water quality. This will help prevent any excessive build-up of algae.
In the summer months make sure to keep the water level up to the rim. Topping up little and often is best.
In the winter months, drain down by a third the water in your bowl. This will stop potential cracking of the rim if the water freezes completely and ice starts to push up under the rim.
Care of Urbis Rusty and Verdigris finishes
When you first receive your Rusty or Verdigris planter you may notice a fine powdery surface is present. This is completely normal and is called the ‘bloom’. When we produce a metal finish we apply actual metal particulate which is bonded to the surface. We then speed up the ageing process to create either the Rusty or Verdigris by using a chemical patina which starts the reaction and rapidly ages the surface. A fine powder forms which will gradually wash off and the planter will weather with the seasons.
We wash the planters down to minimise the bloom but water and rain will also assist in the process. If you find the bloom is too much, they can be washed down with normal water. Don’t pressure wash or scrub at the planters’ surface. The same applies if they get any debris on them, wash down with water – no scrubbing needed. Our planters are all hand finished and the surface will always be changing as it’s ‘live’, there will be lots of variation and no two planters will be exactly the same. They will all take on their own character over the years.
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Urbis Design creates an extensive range of planters to compliment any setting as well as support and sustain a wide variety of plants and trees.