Planter Guide for Cafes | PureModern Planters

If you run a cafe or restaurant (or are designing for one), there are certainly dozens of things to think through daily. Though you know that including greenery into restaurant decor is often an important part of restaurant ambiance, you probably don’t have the time to research everything there is to know about using planters and greenery in your cafe. 

This is why we put together a guide to help you choose the right planter for your cafe or restaurant. This guide will also teach you how to set up your planter so that it requires little maintenance and also looks good for years to come. 

Picture Credit: VHT Studios of the Glass and Vine Project by Grove Bay Hospitality Group

Consider the location of your planter

When choosing planters for your restaurant, one of the first things that you will want to consider is the location of the planters. In this process, there are three different considerations for the location of the planters.

First, you need to consider the location of the restaurant. Is your restaurant located in a hot or cold climate? Is it near saltwater or in an arid location? 

The location of your restaurant matters because if your restaurant is less than 2 miles away from a body of saltwater, for example, materials like COR-TEN weathering steel should be avoided. This is because saltwater negatively affects the patina of COR-TEN weathering steel due to the hygroscopic nature of salt. 

The third consideration for planters when thinking about the location is whether they will be indoors or outdoors. 

Whether the planters will be indoors or outdoors also affects whether we recommend drilling drainage holes or not. If the planter is indoors, we do not recommend drainage holes. If you are worried about root rot, we recommend looking into irrigation systems like the one discussed later on in this article.

If you have any other questions about choosing the right planter based on the location for the planters, please contact us at (866) 319.0514. 

Picture Credit: Gary Landsman of the Landmark Theater project by Rael Architecture

Consider using planters for multiple purposes

You already know that planters add to the ambiance and health of your restaurant. However, we recommend putting your planters to work by using them for multiple purposes.

One of the best ways to utilize your planters is to use them as space dividers in your restaurant. 

You can use them as a divider between a walkway and your restaurant by lining your outdoor patio. Or you can use them to make a large open space more intimate by using them around tables.  You can also use tall outdoor planters to define a walkway into your restaurant, which creates a welcoming entrance for your patrons.

A great example of how to do this is the Landmark Theater Restaurant pictured above. This commercial space’s eating area was near the street, and people sitting on the patio were in very close proximity to the street, parking cars, and parking meters. To create privacy and a less distracting environment, the designers placed planters around the eating area and filled those planters with privacy plants. This created a cozy, peaceful atmosphere, although the patio is located next to a street.  

Picture Credit: Client provided of the Laurel Park, Maryland Jockey Club project

Ensure the planters are on-brand

If there’s one thing that you can do to stand out from the crowd more than anything else, it’s to have a strong and recognizable brand. Having a strong brand is one of the ways famous coffee shops and cafés have earned millions of faithful patrons. And it is why we recommend making sure that your planter stays on-brand with your restaurant. 

To ensure that the planters you purchase are on-brand, we recommend considering not only the color and material of your planter but also the shape and size. It is also important to think through whether having several planters all the same size would be best for your restaurant. Or if purchasing commercial planters in multiple sizes and shapes would better add to the feel of your space.

For example, we worked with SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment on Sesame Place. Sesame Place is an amusement park in Pennsylvania and is based on the TV show Sesame Street. 

The amusement park’s colors are in line with the show and are mostly bright, primary colors. So to keep the planters on-brand, the designers at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment chose RAL 5015, which is sky-blue, for several Modern Elite Aluminum planters. This color worked perfectly with the rest of the park’s theme and ensured the planters fit in with the rest of the park’s brand. Though Sesame Place is an amusement park, the same line of thinking can be used for any cafe or restaurant. 

If you are unable to find the right planter to fit your brand, we recommend custom designing one to work for your restaurant or cafe.

Picture Credit: Client provided of the Laurel Park, Maryland Jockey Club project

Make maintenance as easy as possible

Whether you are designing a cafe for a chef, or you run the restaurant yourself, you know that running a restaurant is no easy task. There are multiple things to think through on a daily basis, and watering greenery can just be one more thing on the to-do list.

To make sure that maintaining your planter and plants is as easy as possible, we recommend doing two things. 

First, we recommend choosing a low-maintenance planter like our Modern Elite Aluminum planter or our PurePots fiberglass planters. Both of these planters are designed specifically for commercial use, are durable, and frost and UV-ray resistant. These planters can also be customized to fit your space and brand. 

Secondly, we recommend using a planter irrigation system. Planter irrigation systems ensure that plants are given appropriate nutrients and water, with little maintenance, to keep them healthy and looking good for as long as possible. Our Ollie Plant Sipper Irrigation System can fit any of our PureModern commercial planters, ensuring that your PureModern planter install looks good for years to come. 

We hope this guide helps you feel confident about purchasing planters for your restaurant or cafe project. If you would like to get started on your project today, pleasecontact us, and we would be happy to give you a quote for planter project.