The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is, understandably, remembered for its planting. New cultivars, layered borders and horticultural spectacle remain at the centre of the event. Royal visits, big brands and extensive queues have also become perennial features of the event during this century in particular. Yet some of the show's most enduring ideas are often carried not by flowers, but by the materials that shape the landscape around them.

This year, Flourish in the City, designed by Joe and Laura Carey of Carey Garden Design Studio for Addleshaw Goddard, offered a thoughtful example of how surface, structure and planting can work together to tell a wider story about urban life. Awarded a Gold Medal in the Small Show Garden category, the project drew inspiration from London's overlooked green spaces, hidden rivers and status as the world's first National Park City.

While the garden's planting palette reflected species adapted to city conditions, including London Pride, ornamental grasses and drought-tolerant shrubs, its material palette elegantly anchored the scheme. Portland stone, copper and reclaimed materials were used throughout, referencing both the city's architectural heritage and its evolving environmental ambitions.

Most striking was the use of oyster shell-based concrete, or "oystercrete" from London-based material makers Matterforms. As we’ve previously reported, the team uses recycled oyster shells collected from London restaurants to create richly textured, stone-like concrete alternatives. In this context, the material connected the project to the city's historic oyster trade while exploring alternative approaches to construction and material reuse.

The result echoed a broader shift visible across Chelsea this year. Alongside conversations around biodiversity, climate resilience and urban greening, there was a noticeable focus on the physical fabric of gardens themselves: reclaimed stone, low-carbon construction, water-sensitive detailing and materials selected as carefully as the planting schemes they supported.

For an event centred on gardens, Chelsea continues to demonstrate how landscape design is inseparable from material design. Plants may provide the seasonal drama, but it is often the surfaces beneath them that weather, hold water, frame views and carry memory, which give a garden its lasting character.