This year Buildbase became the first builders merchant to have a show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show when it teamed up with its adopted charity, the Salvation Army. And the resulting garden, “From darkness to light”, won a coveted silver medal.
As well as celebrating its medal success at Chelsea, Buildbase also used the occasion to mark its gaining Forest Stewardship Council certification across its 89 branch national network. It has worked with SCA Timber Supply to achieve the certification and the latter supplied softwood for the 6m-high, futuristic bandstand in the garden.
Buildbase supplied all the materials, bar the planting. Buildbase landscape development manager Nigel Bullock said: “The result is a garden that is both accessible in terms of design – visitors can imagine lifting it into their own garden – and in terms of product, because all the materials were off the shelf from our standard range.”
Buildbase was approached by the Salvation Army to sponsor and help build its garden after it had selected award-winning garden designer Julian Dowle. “We knew the designer’s work and also knew the Salvation Army link would provide more publicity for Buildbase than an ordinary commercial venture,” said Mr Bullock. “It’s not a plain branding like the Merrill Lynch garden – the branding comes through the materials.”
The reaction from the public has been extremely positive, he said. In fact, the public admired the garden so much that on the final Friday it won the BBC RHS People’s Award.
