Natural Building Materials at Chelsea Flower Show 2024

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the highlight of the year for growers, landscape designers, and contractors. We’ve been thrilled to see some of our suppliers showcased at the event, sharing knowledge about natural building and renovation products and presenting alternative low-carbon products. This article focuses on which sustainable building products have been featured at the show.

We’re delighted that London Garden Rooms selected  TrueWool loft insulation, 100% Pure Welsh Sheep's Wool Insulation, to insulate an elegant, sustainable garden space at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show 2024.

Insulating an elegant garden room designed and built by London Garden Rooms within Susan Long Sculptures' beautiful garden stand, which unsurprisingly received '5 stars' as one of the best Chelsea trade stands.

Natural fibre insulation, such as TrueWool Loft insulation, outperforms other conventional insulation products. It is eco-friendly, renewable, and recyclable. Additionally, it can be easily remanufactured or biodegraded. Its versatility and ease of use have led to its use in various builds, including shepherd's huts, van conversions, garden rooms, and more.

Eco-Garden Rooms with London Garden Designs

London Garden Rooms has strong sustainability credentials. They proudly support British manufacturing using a local supply chain for each project. This allows them to reduce their carbon footprint, lower their share of emissions, and decrease energy consumption. They are entirely concrete-free and use galvanised steel screw foundations instead. London Garden Room Designs uses sustainably sourced timber from local companies that are passionate about protecting the environment. Through sensitive and sustainable construction, green roofs and natural insulation options can preserve and improve biodiversity. They are striving towards more sustainable products and processes, which led them to  TrueWool Loft insulation. TrueWool uniquely uses 100% sheeps wool from Welsh Sheeps Wool. They source the wool via the Wool Traceability scheme run by British Wool.

Sheep Wool Insulation: A Low-Carbon Solution

TrueWool 100% sheep’s wool insulation is ideal for a garden room. Sheep wool insulation is entirely breathable and can adapt to the conditions of both old and new buildings. It is an excellent choice to help maintain a healthy environment in any building.

Sheep’s Wool Loft Insulation is an excellent choice for Garden Rooms because:

• It’s safe - Easy to install (Itch-free!)
• It’s Eco Friendly – Sustainable and Renewable
• It’s Efficient. Wool is breathable and can absorb up to 35% of its weight in moisture without becoming wet. It keeps your house warm during winter and releases moisture in the summer to keep it cool.
• It saves you money – an excellent long-term investment saves you money by reducing your heating bills and cutting the running costs of your home

While we have been looking at the fabulous designs at the flower show, we couldn’t help but be blown away by the flood-resilient Garden Designed by Naomi Slade and Dr Ed Barsley.

Flood Re: The Flood Resilient Garden

The garden is designed to be a relatable, enjoyable, and beautiful space to help reduce flood risk and recover quickly after periods of heavy rainfall.

Dense planting slows the flow, while water is also captured and stored for later use. After heavy rain, the elevated deck and mound – linked by a bridge over a central swale – provide both habitable places for people and well-drained soil for the plants that need it.

The garden design also had several sustainability features, such as using reclaimed materials that can endure frequent and prolonged periods of rain, using peat-free growing mediums, and salvaging fallen timber used for the deck and fence.

Flooding is a growing issue in the UK. One in four homes is at risk of damage to property and gardens and the associated physical and psychological trauma. The Flood-Resilient Garden is inspiring, aesthetically pleasing, and full of useful ideas for future-proofing our gardens and addressing the disruption that flooding brings.

One way to reduce the flow of rainwater is by collecting and storing it in an attractive water butt. We have a great selection of decorative water butts that can be easily connected to downpipes using our range of  filters. Take advantage of our exciting summer sale and amazing discounts on the incredible  Burgundy Water Butt, capable of storing a whopping 500 litres of rainwater. This will be a game-changer for hydrating your beautiful flowers during the scorching summer days!

Summer Sale! Selected Water Butts Now with £10 off! Plus FREE UK Mainland Delivery. 

Our exceptional water team has also developed a  flood warning alarm and various water controllers, which are available on our sister website,  Celtic Water.

Lime Green Strikes Gold with RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden Designs

We also got a little bit excited when we saw that  Lime Green products were used in not one but FOUR show gardens this year. They sent more than 20 tonnes of mortar to the site for use on four incredible garden designs. It's truly wonderful to see the commitment to eco-friendly designs.

The First Garden: ‘Imagine the World to be Different’ 

St. James Piccadilly Garden was designed by Robert Myers. At the centre of the garden design is the architecture of Wren’s church, including a beautiful arched window. The garden has a truly calming effect with soaring brick walls built using Lime Green's External  Lime Render in Harnage colour.

Lime Green mortar has been used on the garden walls and for the miniature church structure.

The garden is part of the Giving Back Project this year, and once the show is over, it will be relocated to the church grounds for the benefit of the whole community. The great thing about using Lime Green products is that the bricks can be fully recycled and used again when the garden is moved to the church grounds after the show.

Are there any Bridgeton fans here? 

Let me introduce the second garden using Lime Green: The  Bridgeton Garden, based on Penelope Featherington, a wallflower-like character from a popular Netflix show. Even though seven tonnes of chalk-coloured lime mortar have been used, it won’t be on show. It’s being used as a structural element for a key part of the design, the moongate. It’s a beautiful, totally secretive and secluded space. Designed by Holly Johnson and constructed by Stewart Landscapes.

Key sustainability points of the garden include the use of drystone walling, which significantly reduces the amount of cement and mortar required. The designers also used salvaged materials and reclaimed items where possible. 

For the third garden, 

Lime Green supplied structural lime mortar for the Stroke Association Garden. Designed by Miriam Harris with Construction Landform UK and Mark Gregory Landscaper. This garden has been designed as a peaceful, sensory space to support stroke recovery, a comforting alternative structure to the built environment of a hospital, which can aid recovery.

The walls have been constructed with hemp blocks and  lime green chalk-coloured mortar and render. The garden's concept and material choices were inspired by the designer's personal experience of surviving a stroke and the stories of others who have been affected by stroke. Following the show, the garden will be transformed into a permanent feature for the Stroke Unit at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds.

Key sustainability points of the garden include use of sustainable innovative meterials; hemp fibre corrugated panels are used for the bounderies of the garden and a hemp composite paving. Celebrating environmentally friendly traditional crafts; lime rendering is used as a finish on the hempcrete blocks and the pond and stream is formed entirely from puddling clay. The garden is completely concrete and plastic free!

The fourth and final Chelsea Flower Show garden

is by  Killik & Co: ‘Money Doesn't Grow On Trees’ Garden. It is a scented, immersive haven in which to relax and unwind. The design creates a supportive environment for families to talk and spend time together. A path of limestone and oak pavers winds through the garden and is wide enough to encourage walking together. The walls are made of hemp with lime mortar bedding from Lime Green.

Key sustainability points of the garden include using reclaimed or recycled materials where possible. No cement, using Lime Green Natural Mortars as an alternative. The planting style has been chosen to be resilient in environments with less water, and hotter and dryer seasons, planting straight into gravel with a mulch over the top with help retain moisture. The whole garden will be stripped apart, trees returned, and landscaping materials are being used in school projects.

More information about the Chelsea Flower Show Designers in this blog post:

• London Garden Rooms: We design, we build. The in-house team performs all the work, from initial design concepts to completion.
• Susan Long Sculptures As an award-winning artist and sculptor, Susan's unique creations contrast traditional sculpture and statuary. Susan exhibited at RHS Chelsea from May 23rd to 27th, 2023, and received a four-gold star award.
• Flood Re: The Flood Resilient Garden,
• Killik & Co: ‘Money Doesn't Grow On Trees’ Garden,
• Stroke Association Garden,
• Bridgeton Garden,
• St. James Piccadilly Garden.

Did you visit the RHS show recently? Did you see any of the gardens mentioned here? Don’t forget to tag us on social media using #CelticSustainables so we can see the pictures!

Sustainable building products at Chelsea Flower Show in 2023

In case you missed it, we spoke about natural fibre sheep’s wool being used at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023, The first in Horatio’s Garden and the second at Plankbridge Shepherd’s Hut.

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