The Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show lost several regular exhibitors this year, including its headline sponsor M&G Investments. It left the London flower show with even fewer show gardens than it had seen after the banking crisis in 2009.

There was still a lot of natural stone hard landscaping and ornamentation in the show gardens and stands at the show, however, a good proportion of it in the show gardens supplied by hard landscaping natural stone specialist CED.

A show garden of particular significance marked the centenary of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Its Portland stone steps and coping stones were made from reclaimed (and replaced) First World War headstones. Two statues standing guard were recycled from the CWGC Portsmouth Naval Memorial. And hand-made red bricks were from stock used to repair the CWGC Thiepval Memorial on the Somme last year.

The central circular stone seat was topped with 100-year-old oak with a centrepiece of Portland stone carved with the Commission’s badge.

CWGC employs 850 gardeners in more than 150 countries, making it one of the largest horticultural organisations in the world.

The garden was funded by private donations and designed by horticulturist David Domoney in collaboration with CWGC Director of Horticulture David Richardson.