The 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, held between the 21st and 25th of May, is one of the most prestigious horticultural events in the world, famous for stunning flower displays and garden design.
We’re thrilled to say that once again we exhibited at the show, and not only did we go bigger and bolder with our stand, we came home with the highest award we could have achieved – five gold stars.
But it didn’t just happen overnight. We have been working on the plans and design for our stand for six months, and we went all out; working with the incredible designer, Alan Williams from Landform Consultants to create an eye-catching space which showcased our products among a stunning planting scheme.
Our products not only caught the eye of the judges, but professionals and celebrities alike.
This is how we did it.
Creating our Chelsea Flower Show Stand
After the high of last year’s Chelsea, we knew we wanted to do more in 2024, so we doubled the size of our stand, taking on a space of 7 × 5 metres. Suddenly it seemed huge, but small at the same time. The challenge was to create a garden that had standout steel products which would be at home anywhere – from large estates to small gardens.
So we thought outside the box and created some.
New products
At the Chelsea Flower Show, we launched our steel living walls. These walls are designed to replicate the curves and angles of the cliffs, with pockets of greenery that make a vertical garden that breaks up a larger space or makes the most of a smaller one.
The living wall was our favourite feature on the stand, along with the log wall, which was launched at Chelsea last year. The log wall presented an array of different-sized logs, which gave the stand an incredible texture.
An angled design
Working with angles became the basis of the design of our stand, as Alan explains: “We put it on a 45-degree angle to make it more welcoming to everybody; we wanted the stand to show off the products to the best of our ability, so the planting is really green and lush, with hints of colour from lupins to grasses to really lift it. The palette was green, rust, and bronze.
“We also put triangles in so that you could divide the space and get interest throughout. The steel planters give height, so we lifted everything up and used big trees to give structure.”
From our point of view, it goes to show that with angles and height, you can create something really special in a small space.
Planting scheme
“Whenever you’re designing, a dash of white always lifts things, so we used alliums to do that,” Alan adds.
We knew we wanted to use the rusted hues on the steel, which is what gives our products character, so our vision was always to have a lot of greens. We planted for semi-shade through to full sun, featuring hydrangea quercifolia, geum, ferns, salvia, achillea and, of course, alliums which complimented the products and blended with the natural colour palette.
A huge thank you to Creepers Nursery, Majestic Trees and Nkuku for their support.
The build
Exhibiting at Chelsea is an experience in itself and once again we were blown away by the camaraderie and teamwork that went into, not only getting our stand finished, but the entire show.
We are all in it together – there’s a finish line and everyone helps each other to get to it. You care not only about your stand but everybody else’s.
Due to torrential rain, we were falling behind. To save the day, Rod Winrow from Garden House Design kindly allowed two of his team to brave the weather and help us lay paving supplied by Schellevis out of the kindness of their own hearts.
That’s just how Chelsea is. There are a lot of professional and very talented people trying to pull off the greatest show in the world, and we were very proud to be part of it again this year.
What’s next
We have been overwhelmed by the response since the show, especially for items such as our estate fencing, steel edging, log walls, and water features.
Another incredibly popular item was the steel pergola with an inbuilt water feature which we built for the Killik and Co “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees” garden designed by Baz Grainger and built by Landform Consultants which was awarded a Silver Gilt Medal.
As yet, we’ve got no plans for next year, but we would love to go again and hope to see the work of other unique businesses like Alex Brooks Furniture.
Get In Touch To Discuss Bespoke Steel Products For Your Property
At Steel Landscaping Co. we are proud to offer a range of beautiful steel products for your property.
We also offer a bespoke design service, where our skilled team fabricate and builds a product designed by you for your outdoor space.
Get in touch with us today if you’d like to discuss creating a unique steel decoration for your garden, or if you have questions about any of our other products.