London Stone has had the honour of supplying materials to four gardens and one trade stand at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2021. With a full quota of medals—Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver, and Bronze—it's safe to say it was a successful year.

Read on to find out more about each of the gardens and the materials we supplied.

The Cancer Research Legacy Garden, RHS Tatton Park 2021, pink bisto set in foreground, white doughnut shaped roof with tree growing through hole, white paving with rills, designed Neil Sutcliffe, built Creative Roots, Florence White Porcelain, London Stone
For the Cancer Research Legacy Garden the Florence White Porcelain paving was cut into bespoke shapes to suit the design.

The Cancer Research UK Legacy Garden

Winning Gold, this garden was designed and built by Neil Sutcliffe and Creative Roots. It's sponsored by Cancer Research UK, and this is where the inspiration for the garden comes from.

The centrepiece is an impressive specimen tree. At the base of the tree sits a circular bed of shade-loving ferns and hostas. Five rills provide a calming babble of water. Sunk into London Stone's own Florence White Porcelain, these run towards this central feature. These flowing water features, nurturing the plants, symbolise the link between legacy pledgers for the charity and researchers working to beat cancer for future generations.

Above the centre flower bed sits a green-roofed canopy, with a hollowed middle for the specimen tree to proudly reach through. The canopy casts shade onto the surrounding pathways to create the perfect spot for a quiet pause and reflection.

A mature copper beech hedge creates the perfect backdrop and encloses the garden to create a sense of peace and privacy. Flowerbeds filled with texture and colour, in the form of hydrangeas, agapanthus and white foxgloves, that create a rainforest feel.

The combination of the planting, water and our Florence White porcelain produces gentle tranquillity and a calming space: the ideal garden for quiet contemplation.

It's Okay Not To Be Okay

This year we also supported three Young Designer Gardens - something we are proud to do. Supporting the up-and-coming in our industry is something that is of great importance to us here at London Stone.

Cream Porcelain Planks make the perfect complement to the planting in this garden. Creating a safe space to relax and talk.
Cream Porcelain Plank Paving leads you through the It's Okay Not To Be Okay Garden. Built by Topoforma Landscape.

There is still plenty of stigma surrounding the topic of mental health. This thoughtful garden, by young designer James Smith, represents that ‘it’s ok not to be ok’. It is easy to see why the garden was a winner of a Silver Medal.

The garden creates a sense of privacy and seclusion that invites conversations in a safe space. With varying heights of beech hedging and birches overhead, the garden creates an enclosed feeling that allows you to open up. Our Cream porcelain planks were used to create twisting paths. Walk these paths with a confidant to find a cantilevered bench overlooking a water feature at the centre of the garden. Enveloped by planting, you can take a moment to rest and talk. Reaching the bench represents a significant achievement in walking a tough path and opening up to talk about our troubles.

This garden features plenty of symbolism. In the garden you will find four tall pillars of green oak. These trees, identical in appearance, represent the one in four people who suffer from mental health issues, and the invisibility of those issues to others. A poetic comparison and beautiful way to draw light on a sensitive topic.

The Dreamscape Garden

The Dreamscape Garden has interesting circular shapes to symbolize the moon. Pastel tones throughout the garden are paired with the statement pink wall. At the base of the wall our Seville Clay Pavers make an interesting addition.
Look closely to see our Seville Clay Pavers to the base of the wall in The Dreamscape Garden. Designed by Ellie Edkins

Ellie Edkins designed The Dreamscape Garden, one of the Young Designer Gardens, with Martyn Jones Landscapes building the concept. Winning a Bronze Medal, the garden is the representation of being able to escape reality into our dreams.

The colour pink can be seen frequently throughout in the garden and is chosen for its dream-like tone and playful quality that take you away from the worries of the daytime. The stone wall, painted concrete, and salvias, sedums, and echinacea all pick up on this charming tone.

The garden does not conform to convention, to give the visitor the feeling of being in a dreamland. Moon shapes are cut into the wall and repeated in the circular reflecting pool in the centre of the garden, further enhancing the dream-like state.

Space is provided in the centre of garden to sit and relax on curved benches. Surrounded by planting, this is the perfect place to pause and unwind. The stripped-back palette of the planting allows focus on texture and movement.

In the garden you will find our Mint sandstone edging and matching coping. The pastel tones of the sandstone with its mosaic mix of tones ,including pinks and beiges, provides the perfect complement for the rest of the garden. Hints of our Seville brick pavers can also be seen throughout the garden, adding little touches of detail.

The Earth Garden

The Earth Garden is designed with nature in mind, so places a heavy emphasis on the planting. The jungle like feel is paired with hardscaping in the form of 100mm thick Grey Yorkstone step, walling and recycled garden furniture.
Designed by Max Parker-Smith to be environmentally and nature-friendly, The Earth Garden is a space that all can enjoy,

The Earth Garden was designed by Young Garden designer Max Parker-Smith and built by Earthtone Landscapes to win a Silver Gilt Medal. Designed with environmental responsibility in mind, he's created a garden that, in the words of David Attenborough, “provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth.”

The garden has a low carbon footprint, with charismatic earth bricks walls replacing less environmentally friendly concrete blocks. Plants dominate the purposely minimal space, catering for wildlife and demonstrating the beauty to be found in living in harmony with nature.

Throughout, there is a wide variety of planting. Multi-stemmed snake-bark maples, Acer capillipes, and copper beech hedging provide structure and add an element of shade and privacy. The extensive colour palette of whites, silver, purple, burnt orange and pink scattered throughout the garden adds vitality and interest.

Tucked away in the garden is a table and bench set made from scaffold-board and recycled foam cushions. The furniture provides the perfect viewpoint to appreciate the garden and watch nature pass by.

Our 100mm Grey Yorkstone step feature makes a subtle yet distinctive appearance in the garden, creating a solid contrast to the loose-gravelled pathway that leads you to the charming garden room at the back.

Hartley Botanic Trade Stand

London Mixture clay pavers have a beautiful classic feel that looks right at home in the charming greenhouse filled with tomato plants.
London Mixture Clay Pavers make the perfect complement to Hartley Botanic's greenhouse on their Trade Stand

RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2021 is not just about show gardens, although they are the main feature! There are also plenty of trade stands, which can sometimes be just as impressive as the gardens themselves. This year we supplied Hartley Botanic with our Kota Brown limestone paving and London Mixture Clay Pavers for their in situ style display. Paired with their greenhouses, the display gives you a real life feel of how the product would look in your garden. The stand received an impressive 5* rating.

Post updated: June 2024