In 2024, we supported Oliver Bond from Bond Landscape Design with materials for his first show garden.
It was a project that had been in the works for a long time, and it was good to be involved from our side.
Over a year in the making
A show garden might only be seen for a short time, but there is a lot that goes into it beforehand.
Oliver spent over a year working on the project. That included the design, going through the adjudication process, sourcing funding and materials, and building parts of the garden before it even reached site.
As he put it:
“I have not done a show garden before, but had aspirations of doing one for some time.”
The idea behind “Match Point”
The garden, called Match Point, takes its influence from Wimbledon.
The aim was to show how a tennis court could sit within a more natural setting without taking over the space. It is a mix of structure and planting, with neither one overpowering the other.
At the centre is a simple clubhouse. It gives some shelter, but it is designed to sit quietly within the planting rather than stand out.
Materials used
For this build, Oliver used a range of mild steel across the garden:
22.2mm x 1.2mm tube for the trellis roof
50mm x 5mm black flat for the edging
12mm rebar (300mm lengths) for edging pins
12mm rebar (1,500mm lengths) for the rope and pin boundary
Simple materials, used in the right places.
These were used across both the main structure and the smaller details around the garden.
Bringing it together
A big part of Oliver’s approach is mixing hard landscaping with planting.
The garden uses a base of green planting with different textures, alongside purples and whites to reflect the Wimbledon theme. The harder elements are kept clean and simple, with the planting helping to soften the overall look.
As Oliver explained:
“I designed the garden as a hybrid of contemporary hard landscaping and naturalistic, wildlife-friendly soft landscaping.”
Built with longevity in mind
The materials and layout were chosen to last, while also working with the surrounding environment.
The aim was to create something low maintenance, practical, and still supportive of plant life and wildlife.
Final thoughts
We were pleased to support Oliver on his first show garden and to see how the project came together.
It is always good to see materials used in a way that is both practical and well thought through.
If you are working on a landscaping project and need materials or advice, feel free to get in touch. We will do our best to help.
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