As ever, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show dazzled with its signature blend of colour, creativity and riotous extravagance. Amid exquisite planting schemes and carefully considered hard landscaping, sculpture, antiques and architectural pieces were the beating heart of almost every garden.
Weathered stone troughs, verdigris copper water features and striking contemporary sculpture brought depth, character and a sense of story to each space — the finishing touches that transformed beautiful gardens into the ones you want to linger in, long after summer ends.
For more than 35 years, we’ve been sourcing statement pieces for gardens of every size, across the UK and beyond. From hand-thrown Italian terracotta pots and timeworn farm troughs, to staddle stones, antique cider mills, copper planters and ornate urns, we’ve always believed the most memorable gardens are shaped by objects with presence, provenance and soul.
Here are the pieces and the gardens that caught our eye at Chelsea this year — perhaps the inspiration you need to bring a little more character into your own garden. If you're looking for one-off, timeless pieces you'll love for a lifetime, the Holloways Garden Antiques courtyards at our Worcestershire showrooms have inspiration – and artefacts – in spades.
Grateful thanks to the RHS and Bramblecrest who hosted us throughout the show. All images credit: RHS.
Vintage furniture
Garden furniture that's seen plenty of parties, breakfast with the papers and a sundowner or seven brings its own charm to a garden. Whether a pretty vintage bistro set – like this one tucked away in the RHS and The King's Foundation Curious Garden – a metal dining set or an old, weathered teak table large enough to gather the whole clan, there's something about an antique garden furniture set, peeling paint and all, that grounds a garden and makes it inviting.
You'll find an ever-changing collection of antique garden furniture at Holloways Garden Antiques, from vintage dining sets to stone benches and salvaged dining tables like this one, below, in the Project Giving Back garden.
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Set the benchmark
A bench is one of the simplest and most pleasing additions to a garden. Placed in a quiet corner or to take in a favourite view, a bench makes a quiet, but effective focal point. This year's Chelsea show gardens featured everything from old wrought iron benches to contemporary stone. This simple plank installation in The Children's Society Garden is easily achievable at home.
On a more modest domestic scale, an antique limestone seat, vintage Coalbrookdale wrought iron design or weathered teak bench can transform a garden – and gives you somewhere to appreciate it from.
Sculptural seating
An inspired blend of sculpture and seating, this year's Chelsea gardens featured statement pieces central to the garden's design. Huge carved wooden structures, with organic curves and undulating grain, took centre stage beside bold statement seating with integral lighting amongst the planting in the Parkinson's UK garden.
A large chunk of honed stone makes a beautiful, organic seat, like this one below in The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine garden. Two carved timber blocks and a cantilever in The Trussell's Together Garden make a contemporary, minimalist focal point.
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Pots and planters
Timeless terracotta pots never go out of style, and this year's Chelsea gardens were full of them. We spotted this beautiful Pithari jar in The RHS and The King's Foundation Curious Garden, along with a large Italian pot planted with herbs. You'll find similar terracotta pots and planters, made by craftsmen in Italy and Crete, on our website or in our antiques courtyards at our showrooms.
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Form and function
The meeting of sculptural form and function in a garden is the holy grail – whether that's planting, hard landscaping, sculpture or antiques. A table and dining stools that look like art, like these in The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine garden is an eye-catching talking point. Find similarly architectural tables at Holloways Garden Antiques.
From eye-catching galvanised plant sculptures made by a Herefordshire blacksmith to contemporary bronzes and figurines, you'll find an ever-changing collection in the Holloways Garden Antiques courtyards. Check the 'recently added' section on the website for the latest arrivals.
Water, water everywhere
Adding a water feature to a garden introduces sound and movement, and provides a vital lifeline for wildlife in the summer months. At Chelsea, they ranged from the achievable to the fantastical, and the gardens were all the more glorious for it. Whether you've got room for an extravagant, sculptural rill, or can find space for a planter-cum-water-feature, your garden will thank you for it.
We specialise in creating water features out of reclaimed troughs and planters. Inspiration came from Chelsea in the form of copper planters, with a beautiful aged patina, turned into mini ponds fed by vintage taps in the Whittard of Chelsea Garden and this metal trough in The Children's Society Garden. You'll find a huge selection in our antiques courtyards at our Worcestershire showrooms, or online.
Shop iron planters here, or click the link below to explore our current collection of water features.
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Shade and shelter
A pergola or garden structure adds height and interest to a garden. Whether it's built for shade, or simply decorative, design and materials are everything. This modernist piece in the Asthma & Lung UK Breathing Space Garden offers shade and impeccable style. Brutalist design and sustainable materials were at the fore in the Killik & Co 'A Seed In Time' Garden.
This impressive reclaimed timber 'train' in the Journey Beyond The Tracks: Adelaide to Perth Garden was inspired by the Indian Pacific line and the spirit of adventure that the railways sparked. Salvaged materials make up the pergola in The Children's Society Garden, bringing an urban edge to the space. The simple, rusted structure in The Sightsavers Garden: We Start With Sight But We Don't Stop There is elegant and achievable and creates a marked seating area without taking up space.
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Add style, shelter and shade to your garden with a custom pergola. Ours come in three sizes and two finishes – a smart graphite, and warm oak – with a bespoke combination of louvres and screens. We can arrange professional installation, and there's no planning permission required. They're the perfect outdoor room you can use year-round, whatever the weather is doing.
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