Spring's here, and so are the questions about what's new for the garden. I've been designing steel art for New Zealand gardens since 2007, and for summer 2026 the short answer is this: warm, earthy corten, colour coming back through botanical pieces, native birds that bring a garden to life, and art that makes a small space feel bigger. Here's what I'm seeing, based on what people actually bought from me last summer and what this year's big garden shows are pointing to.
Corten isn't going anywhere. Coverage of this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show picked out "rusty Corten steel, aging copper and clay bricks" as the warm colours running right through the show gardens. That rusty orange looks good against greenery and timber, and once the patina forms it needs nothing from you. That suits the low-water, low-fuss gardens NZ landscapers keep talking about for 2026.
One practical tip: while corten is first weathering it can leave a little rust runoff, so set it over soil, bark or planting rather than pale pavers. My guide to corten garden art covers how it weathers and where to put it.
This was the surprise for me last summer. My best-selling decorative piece was the pōhutukawa wall hanging in red and green, and the coloured botanicals sold steadily all season - the kōwhai in yellow and sage, the mānuka in white and sage, and the hydrangeas in blush and pale blue.
It fits with the bold colour and rich foliage NZ garden designers are tipping for 2026. A coloured piece on a fence gives you flowers that last all year, which is handy in a garden that's between seasons. If you like a softer look, sage green works with almost any planting - there's more on that in my sage green garden decor post.
Native designs are still the heart of what I make. The kererū, fantail and tūī garden stake set and the corten bird in flight were two of my most popular garden pieces last summer. Birds tucked into planting make a garden feel lived in, even when the real ones are elsewhere.
What's shifting is the planting around them. Landscape architects are reporting that clients are more open to mixing natives with exotic plants for seasonal interest, rather than going native-only (Build & Renovate). That's why my magnolia and hydrangea pieces sit comfortably next to a tūī. Browse the full range of garden stakes for birds, koru and botanicals.
Sections are getting smaller, and vertical gardens and living walls keep turning up on NZ trend lists for 2026. When you don't have room for a big garden bed, the fence becomes the garden. A single large piece, or a group of three, turns a plain paling fence into a backdrop and makes a courtyard feel finished.
My garden wall art is made for exactly this - corten and rope-hung designs that screw straight onto timber. For more ideas, see fence art ideas for NZ gardens.
One of the nicest things at Chelsea this year was what one report called "nooks meant just for one" - a single seat surrounded by planting. It's an easy idea to borrow. Put a chair at the end of the garden and give it something to look at: one inground piece among grasses, not five small ones competing.
Go bigger than you think. Open sky and planting shrink the sense of scale outdoors, so a piece that looks large in the parcel usually looks right in the garden. My garden sculptures are made to sit in the ground and hold their own.
Outdoor lighting keeps coming up in 2026 trend lists as a way to use the garden well into the evening. Cut steel is made for this. Put a small spike light below a cut-out piece and it throws its pattern onto the fence behind, so you get the art twice - once by day, and as a shadow at night. Fern, koru and bird designs work especially well.
My most-ordered item last summer wasn't a sculpture at all - it was the black cross outdoor hook. People want the useful things outside to look as considered as the rest: outdoor hooks by the pool or outdoor shower, and address signs and numbers that tie in with the garden.
You don't need to follow every trend. Pick the one or two that suit your garden and how you use it. A coloured botanical on the fence and a native bird stake in the bed will do more than a dozen small ornaments. Browse all my garden art, the smaller garden ornaments and decor, or outdoor wall art for patios and entryways. If you want something made to size, get in touch.
Everything that isn't custom ships within 48 hours, with free NZ shipping over $250.
Low-maintenance, water-wise planting, natives mixed with exotic plants for seasonal colour, outdoor living spaces, vertical gardens for small sections and better lighting. For garden art, that means corten and earthy tones, coloured botanical pieces, native birds, and fence-mounted art.
Yes. Rusted corten was one of the colours running through the show gardens at RHS Chelsea 2026, and it suits NZ's move towards low-maintenance gardens because it needs no painting or sealing once the patina forms.
Use the fence. Garden wall art, one well-placed sculpture and a few garden stakes through the planting give a small garden height and interest without cluttering it.
It can leave some runoff while it first weathers. Place it over soil, bark or planting, or let it weather somewhere else first. Once the patina settles, the running stops.
LisaSarah Steel Designs has made more than 50,000 steel pieces for New Zealand homes and gardens since 2007. Everything is designed by me and made in New Zealand, and we ship NZ-wide and to Australia.
Lisa Turley is the designer behind LisaSarah Steel Designs, creating original steel wall art, garden art and signage for New Zealand homes since 2007.
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