The Blue Diamond Garden Centres exhibit in the Great Pavilion featured our own Rose Cottage Clay Brick Pavers laid in a classic herringbone pattern through the houseplant walkway. With over 35 metres of walk-through pathway threading the 240 square metre exhibit, the choice of laying pattern mattered enormously and herringbone delivered exactly what the space needed. The interlocking zigzag of the Rose Cottage clay bricks created a surface with genuine visual momentum, drawing visitors naturally along the route and through the planted zone. The warm, earthy tones of the clay sat beautifully against the lush tropical and shade-loving houseplants on either side, grounding an exotic planting scheme with something unmistakably rooted and British. Clay brick pavers in herringbone are one of the most enduring combinations in garden design - practical, slip-resistant, and extraordinarily good-looking. seeing them at Chelsea 2026 in such a high-footfall setting was a reminder of just how hardworking a well-chosen paver can be.

And in The Children's Society Garden, designed by Patrick Clarke (Gold Medal and Best Construction 2026), council paving slabs rescued from a skip were cut into strips and set with their rough inner faces upwards to reveal a terrazzo-like aggregate texture - a reminder that brick and reclaimed materials, treated with imagination, are an endlessly creative medium.

The message from Chelsea Flower Show 2026 couldn't be clearer: brick pavers, cobbles and setts are warm, characterful, and deeply versatile. Whether stacked into raised beds, used to edge a garden path, or chosen for a courtyard terrace, they bring an irreplaceable sense of permanence and heritage to the garden.

The most celebrated example was The Tate Britain Garden, designed by the legendary nine-time Chelsea gold medallist Tom Stuart-Smith. At its heart, a gently curving path was laid with stone reclaimed directly from the site of the new Clore Garden at Tate Britain - stone from the existing garden at Millbank, repurposed and given a second life underfoot at Chelsea 2026. The circular seating area was formed from low-carbon concrete incorporating materials lifted from the Tate site and crushed into aggregate. This is sustainable garden paving at its most sophisticated: materials telling the story of the place they came from.

The Whittard of Chelsea Garden took a similarly considered approach. Designer Ollie Pike wove beautiful Yorkstone paving - taken out as part of the redevelopment around Sloane Square through the courtyard design, bringing a genuine fragment of Chelsea itself underfoot. The paving was joined by gravel made from recycled aggregates and reclaimed walling brickwork, resulting in a garden where virtually every material carried its own narrative.

Every slab captures the unique patina, texture, and character of the genuine article - the riven surface of a Stonecast® Riven York Stone slab is indistinguishable from reclaimed stone underfoot, without the environmental cost of quarrying new material or the scarcity and expense of true reclaimed stone. Endorsed by the National Trust and winner of the Ideal Home 2024 Garden Award for Best Paving, Stonecast® garden paving has been handcrafted by our family-run business since 1985. Raw materials are sourced locally near our Shropshire base, keeping transport emissions low and our carbon footprint to a minimum. The result is paving that looks as though it has always been there with the warm, storied character of reclaimed York stone, reclaimed slate or terracotta tiles, all ready to lay in your garden today. If Tom Stuart-Smith's Tate Britain Garden proved anything, it's that the most beautiful paving feels rooted in time and place. Stonecast® delivers exactly that, without compromise.

The Boodles Garden by Catherine MacDonald was the most architecturally refined example. The garden layout echoed the Tower of London, with neutral limestone paving reflecting the stonework of the White Tower. But it was the interplay between materials that made the hardscape sing. The main paved area was laid in smooth, pale limestone, edged and defined by a lighter detailing that framed the planting beds and rill surround with crisp precision. The effect was unmistakably reminiscent of historic palace courtyards, with a metal rill encircling the central entertaining area, channelling water in a gentle cascade alongside the garden steps. The rill itself acted as a linear edging element - a water boundary that both separated and unified the limestone paving zones within the garden.

the Alitex stand demonstrated the contrasting paving principle with quiet brilliance. our Antique Fieldmoor Sandstone Slimsetts were used to create the visual illusion of a distinct pathway running through the Pietra Oro porcelain patio towards the greenhouse. Rather than breaking the patio into two separate surfaces, the Slimsetts were laid as a contrasting band within the porcelain paving, their warm golden-brown tones, natural veining, and riven texture providing just enough material contrast to define the route without interrupting the flow of the space. The effect was subtle but immediately readable - the eye follows the sandstone naturally, drawing visitors through the exhibit towards the greenhouse beyond. It's an elegant solution and a brilliantly practical one.

In the Blue Diamond Garden Centres exhibit feautred contrasting edging which played an important structural role. The exhibit spanned 240 square metres and featured over 35 metres of walk-through pathways for visitors to explore, moving through carefully defined zones. The pathway edging didn't merely separate paving from planting - it guided the eye, controlled the journey, and gave the whole exhibit a sense of calm, choreographed order that belied the richness of the planting within. Our Rose Cottage Clay Brick Pavers were once again used but this time they were placed side on to border the large Antique Cragside Sandstone patio area in the tapestry garden, creating texture structure and perfectly highlighting the planting beyond.