A garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show is to be created almost entirely out of repurposed materials to highlight creative ways of reusing and recycling materials in garden design.

Award winning designer Darryl Moore of Cityscapes has repurposed key elements from RHS Chelsea Show Gardens dating back as far as 2010. Recycled elements include, a series of corten steel columns, hauled from storage at Crocus after appearing in Andy Sturgeon’s 2010 The Daily Telegraph Garden, tower over a path of reclaimed paving. Tom Massey’s Islamic inspired fountain and concrete benches from his 2018 The Lemon Tree Trust Garden provide a focal point and places to rest within the garden.

The distinctive steel fins from Andy Sturgeon’s 2016 The Daily Telegraph Garden are repurposed as information boards highlighting best practices in show garden sustainability, reuse and relocation and reclaimed scaffold boards and timber from Cityscapes’ 2022 St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots Garden define the rear boundary.

The recycling continues with drought-tolerant species, including grasses and local wildflowers, all planted in crushed concrete and sand salvaged from demolished buildings. The planting features Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn) trees, grasses including Brachipodium pinnatum, Briza media and various Selseria species, interspersed with local wildflowers such as Centurea nigra, Galium verum and Origanum vulgare, alongside Verbascum, Phlomis and Euphorbia.

Designer and Director of Cityscapes said: “The world’s resources are limited. In order to build a sustainable and adaptive future in response to the challenges we face from the climate and biodiversity crisis, we need to look at ways to reuse and recycle materials we already have. At Cityscapes we’ve been re-using materials from RHS Shows for a decade, so I’m always on the lookout for things that might work well in future designs. I hope this garden will encourage more designers and visitors to do the same.”

All gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show have to live on in some form after the show, a condition that was implemented by the RHS last year. Gardens can be relocated in their entirety or broken down and used for a number of different projects depending on need and suitability, or parts might be repurposed. After the Show, every element of ‘RHS Chelsea Repurposed’ will go on to enjoy new lives that continue to benefit both people and wildlife.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 21-25 May 2024 and tickets are available online at rhs.org.uk/Chelsea