Very Bespoke at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016

Chelsea Flower Show 2016 is a first for London Stone. This year, we've supplied gardens in every category: Show, Fresh, Artisan, Trade and even the RHS's own feature garden. And we've supplied some very bespoke elements. Come with us as we show you round.

Just before we start, though, forgive us if we blow a small trumpet. We're incredibly proud to appear in so many places, and for designers whom we've supplied in previous years. These are top-notch talents who are happy to keep coming back, knowing that they can absolutely rely on us to go the extra mile to ensure perfection.

Now, let's take a look...

The Chelsea Barracks Garden by Jo Thompson

Jo Thompson's Chelsea Barracks Garden gave us one of the most bespoke orders we've ever fulfilled for a show garden. Basaltite is known for its mid-grey conformity, making it ideal for urban style, and we ordered it specially from Italy. Large format paving incorporated precise curves, which had to marry exactly with the bronzed edging - a challenge our Bespoke Stone Centre rose to magnificently.

“It was a massive amount of stone,” said Jo. “We've got a polished version for the rill, and the paving is etched to create the idea of the river.” That river is the Westbourne, one of the lost rivers of London that runs under the Chelsea Barracks grounds.

Pro-Corda Trust—A Suffolk Retreat by Frederic Whyte

Freddy Whyte's Pro Corda Trust - A Suffolk Retreat, built by Living Landscapes, used a stalwart of the London Stone stable - Harvest sawn sandstone. In the Artisan category and sponsored by the Pro Corda Trust, a music and educational charity that has done pioneering work with children with educational needs, the choice of Harvest natural stone perfectly suited a garden that showcased some of the best traditional Suffolk craftsmanship.

The colour toned with the cream of the decorative wall panels, and its soft finish made a lovely frame for both the beds and the flint panels, which recalled the flushwork found in Suffolk churches of the medieval period. The muted colours that Freddy chose created the calming space that is so necessary for children with autism.

“I often use paving as a frame in quite a formal way,” said Frederic. “It sets off the exuberant informality of the planting.”

Freddy Whyte's A Suffolk Retreat, built by Living Landscapes, is using Harvest Sawn Sandstone. This is in the Artisan category and is sponsored by the Pro Corda Trust, a music and educational charity that has done pioneering work with children with educational needs. Harvest, being a Natural Stone Paving, will perfectly suit a garden showcasing some of the best traditional Suffolk craftsmanship. The sandstone tones beautifully with the muted colours that Freddy has chosen to create a calming space that is so necessary for children with autism. Read Frederic's own account of creating a Chelsea show garden.

Hartley Botanic Show Garden and Trade Stand by Catherine MacDonald

Also sticking with traditional materials was Catherine MacDonald, who was in her fourth year at Chelsea. She had not one, but two designs on show, in  the Hartley Botanic Show Garden and the Hartley Botanic trade stand. However, in a subtle twist, she chose the same Grey Yorkstone for both, but with two different finishes, which gave an ideal opportunity to view the stone's different characters. The Fine Brushed Grey Yorkstone gave the trade stand (which won 5 stars) a warm, professional quality that made you want to dive into the greenhouses and get growing.

In the show garden, the chunky Brushed Grey Yorkstone blended with the woodland setting. “I wanted a link in the material between the two sites,” said Catherine, “but for the show garden to stand apart.”

A false lintel and coping in Grey Yorkstone adds detail. Picture: Helen Gazeley.

The paving stones are spaced widely. “It's not too neat,” added Catherine, “more like stepping stones.” The Yorkstone featured elsewhere too, in the false lintel of the entrance to the glasshouse and the coping on top of the wall. “I was keen to do the lintel,” said Catherine. “I like that it gives it a bit of rustic character.”

Solus Decor Urban Retreat by Jack Dunkley

Totally new for us and two designers this year was sintered stone, a very hard type of porcelain. Jack Dunkley used it for the Solus Decor trade stand, Urban Retreat, where it set off the smooth, elegant precast concrete planters and firepits. Not only was it used as floor tiles, but on the walls. It's well suited to this, as it's dense enough to be used in very thin panels.

Jack liked it. “I'd definitely use it again,” he said. “It feels lovely underfoot and, barefoot, it feels soft.”

The Modern Slavery Garden by Juliet Sargeant

Sintered Stone also played a starring role in The Modern Slavery Garden by Juliet Sargeant. “I'm really excited by it,” said Juliet. “You can do almost anything with it.”

The paving slabs on the threshold were textured. “It harmonises with the rest, which is very smart and polished,” she added. “There's a lovely bullnose on the coping and the edging had a pencil-round edge, to make a crisp frame for the plants. I'm very proud of my swish edges.”

Porcelain features in our last two gardeners. For such a newcomer, it's fast becoming the paving of choice for many.

Greening Grey Britain by Ann-Marie Powell

Ann-Marie Powell chose Golden Stone porcelain for her RHS feature garden, Greening Grey Britain Garden for Health, Happiness and Horticulture. She didn't just select it for the colour, though she did describe it as “a beautiful stone, one of the best porcelains I've seen. It looks very natural.” It was practical too. She intended to encourage people to think about doing more with their front garden than merely turning it into parking. “Porcelain is slip-resistant, so perfect for the front garden,” she added, “and its density means that it won't take on pollution.”

Into the paving were inscribed words for Happiness in various languages. We won't pretend these weren't something of a challenge for Piotr, our expert CNC machine operator, because Porcelain is a very hard, dense stone to cut, but this also gave the words precision edges and he got a lovely contrast between the texture of the Porcelain surface and the smooth inscription.

David Harber Trade Stand

Finally, many congratulations are due David Harber, who garnered Best Trade Stand with a lovely design by Nic Howard. Silver grey porcelain contrasted well with brick pavers and complemented David's striking silver sculptures, creating a garden that combined modern and traditional elements into a winning formula.

Designer Nic Howard is very happy with porcelain paving. “It looks like natural stone,” he says, “and has all the attributes of natural stone without the downside. There's no tolerance. We did 2½ mm joints and could get away with that because there's absolutely perfect tolerance.”

He uses it “an awful lot”. “The quality of the porcelain is unbelievable. It harder to cut and you need specialist blades, but when you think we did our first one 18 months ago, now 90% of all the gardens we do are with Porcelain.”

So that's it for Chelsea flower show 2016, with a huge thank you to everyone involved. No time to rest, though, as we have to work to do for the forthcoming gardens at Hampton Court Flower Show 2016.