Shapescaper at MIGFS 2025: Elevating Garden Design at Every Level
By Bridie Moon
Every year, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIGFS) brings together Australia’s most talented landscape designers, horticulturists, and students to celebrate innovation, sustainability, and beauty in outdoor spaces. For ShapeScaper, MIGFS 2025 was more than just an opportunity to exhibit our products, it was a chance to see our edging, planters, and custom steelwork used to full creative effect across a wide variety of installations.
From seasoned professionals to first-time student designers, this year’s show offered a vivid reminder of why we do what we do. Providing high-quality, design-forward products that elevate outdoor spaces and empower creators at every level.
A Showcase Garden of Our Own
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Royal Exhibition Building, our garden combined contemporary landscape styling with clean architectural lines, showcasing our steel edging systems and modular planter boxes. Visitors could experience first-hand the design flexibility and strength that defines our brand.
Using a mix of Redcor and Galvabond steel, our products provided definition to key planting areas and introduced gentle transitions across paved and planted surfaces, contributing to the overall sense of rhythm and movement. The display was built not just to inspire, but to educate attendees about the versatility of steel as a landscape material.
Design Highlights from Our Display
Our MIGFS 2025 display was designed to immerse visitors in a contemporary Australian landscape experience that celebrated durable materials, organic forms, and native plants. The display featured a circular seating zone formed with custom Corten steel and timber-topped benches, inviting visitors to sit and take in the garden from a unique perspective. A gleaming copper water feature added both movement and reflection, its edges softened by curved steel borders and lush planting. Elevated, multi-tiered planter beds offered attractive height variation and showcased planting structure, while raised gardens created smooth elevation changes that subtly guided the eye and the visitor’s path through the garden. These elements worked together to illustrate the variety of ShapeScaper’s product range, from architectural features to structural foundations.
Championing the Next Generation: Student Gardens
One of the most rewarding aspects of MIGFS 2025 was seeing how many student garden entries made use of ShapeScaper products. From curved edging sections that created organic pathways, to planter boxes and rings used to create focal planting zones, our range played a part in shaping the learning and creative process for numerous up-and-coming designers.
The Challenger Achievable Gardens category, designed to encourage emerging talent, was especially inspiring. These compact gardens were full of heart and originality, often featuring resourceful use of materials and highly refined planting palettes. It was rewarding to see ShapeScaper elements not only serving a practical role but also contributing to the artistic identity and storytelling of each student garden.
We believe in investing in the future of outdoor design, and being able to supply student teams with high-quality, professional-grade materials is part of that commitment. Our products didn’t just enhance the look of their spaces; they offered these young designers a chance to work with tools used in real-world projects.
Spotlight on Silver Gilt Winner: Matt York’s “In Ratio with Africa”
Among the standout gardens at this year’s show was Matt York’s “In Ratio with Africa”, a rich, sensory landscape that explored the parallels between African and Australian garden design. Taking out the Silver Gilt medal in the Show Garden category, this installation was a bold and thoughtful meditation on climate resilience, cultural storytelling, and site-sensitive design.
We were thrilled to partner with Matt on several key custom components of his display. Chief among them was the sculptural three-metre bird motel. A functional and artistic centrepiece constructed with Redcor Steel to Matt’s vision. Designed to provide habitat while serving as a design anchor, the structure highlighted what’s possible when custom steelwork meets creative ambition.
In addition to the bird motel, we worked with Matt to fabricate other bespoke elements for his garden, including edging that helped shape raised planting zones, supporting the health and stability of larger plants and trees, and seamless transitions between planted areas and paved surfaces to maintain a cohesive, flowing layout. His team made excellent use of the material’s flexibility, creating a garden that balanced form and function.
York’s planting palette featured three Queensland bottle trees (Brachychiton Rupestris), a nod to the iconic baobabs of Ghana. These were nestled among resilient native shrubs and groundcovers, highlighting how a water-wise garden can offer a vibrant, engaging experience without sacrificing atmosphere or beauty.
Matt’s use of recycled water systems, shading, and sustainable materials all contributed to a display that was as practical as it was poetic. For us, it was a proud moment to see ShapeScaper integrated so seamlessly into a design with such strong narrative and environmental values.
MIGFS 2025: A Broader Landscape
Beyond our own display and Matt York’s winning garden, ShapeScaper products were spotted throughout the show. From boutique gardens to commercial exhibitor plots, our modular planters and signature edging lines appeared in a variety of contexts, reflecting the adaptability of our range.
First place in the Boutique Garden competition category was awarded to RE-SET by Joslyn Bennett of Earthcore Landscapes, a Gold Medal-winning garden that explored the power of nature as a restorative force. Designed with wellness and mental clarity at its core, the garden invited visitors into a gently immersive space that felt both protected and open. It was a sanctuary space for both people and wildlife, the use of indigenous flora further grounded the garden in its Australian context, supporting biodiversity while celebrating the beauty and resilience of local ecosystems. Curved lines created fluidity and ease through the running water feature. Whilst a palette of soft greens, earthy timbers, Redcor patinated steel and stone elements grounded the space with warmth and tactility. A reo-mesh and artistic timber-panelled privacy screen surrounded a secluded seating nook. The abstract light shapes and shifting shadows created soft subtle movement across the space, reinforcing the interplay between light, form and feeling. It encouraged reflection, slowing down, and reconnection with self through stillness and sensory awareness. Framed by ShapeScaper’s Redcor 590mm steel edging, the design balanced strength and softness, structure and stillness. The beautiful central water feature served as both a visual anchor and a sensory device, gently trickling to evoke calm and presence. RE-SET was a garden that encouraged visitors to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with themselves and the landscape around them.
Other Award-Winning Gardens
Though many landscape features did not feature ShapeScaper products, there were many that definitely made a lasting impression. A standout design came from Rob Cooper with his garden “əskɑːp”, which was awarded Best in Show and a Gold Medal. This serene, immersive garden was designed as an antidote to the sensory overload of modern life. By embracing a subtle planting palette and a tightly curated spatial layout, Cooper sought to create a space that encouraged stillness and introspection. Visitors were drawn into a quiet rhythm, where soft mounds of foliage met bold architectural forms in a conversation of contrast. The balance between built form and botanical softness offered an experience that was both grounding and uplifting, reminding visitors of the power of simplicity and spatial calm.
A Gold Medal was also presented to Semken Landscaping for their “Nostalgia” display, which leaned into sensory memories and emotional triggers to create a space filled with warmth and character. The garden drew from the mid-century Australian backyard, a time when gardens were highly personal, full of flowering borders, homegrown vegetables, shared cuttings, and afternoon rituals. The design honoured those memories through familiar textures, layered planting, and intimate gathering spaces. More than a historical nod, ‘Nostalgia’ also aligned with purpose-driven storytelling, created in collaboration with Dementia Australia. The garden celebrated memory, care, and the quiet resilience of everyday spaces, all brought to life with thoughtful details that were both timeless and touching.
Silver Medals were awarded to “ODE” by Arbour Creation, “Doable” by Nature Inc, and “Yutori” by Kazuto Kashiwakura and Koji Ninomiya. ODE presented a lyrical composition of garden rooms connected by flowing lines and subtle level changes, while Doable explored accessible, realistic green spaces with a strong emphasis on function and maintainability. Yutori introduced Japanese principles of negative space, calm, and lightness, expressing quiet beauty through minimalism and precision.
It was exciting to see how many of these entries embraced clean geometry, recycled materials, and striking material contrasts in their design palettes. As the industry continues to shift toward durability and sustainability, these gardens highlighted the growing demand for meaningful and lasting outdoor design.
Designing for the Future: Trends & Takeaways
What stood out most at MIGFS 2025 wasn’t just the creativity on display, but the consistent undercurrent of resilience, climate-consciousness, and community. Gardens were smaller in footprint but larger in meaning. Edging wasn’t just functional, but expressive. Planter boxes weren’t just containers, but story points.
Several key trends stood out across the show. Climate resilience remained a core priority, with many gardens favouring drought-tolerant species, innovative water management techniques, and designs that supported thermal regulation. Modular construction was also prominent, with designers increasingly turning to pre-fabricated and flexible components to streamline builds and enhance adaptability. A notable emphasis on wildlife integration was evident, with features such as bird motels, insect hotels, and pollinator gardens incorporated into even the most compact spaces. Cultural narratives also played a central role, with gardens telling deeper stories, from York’s African-influenced landscape to student designs that explored personal heritage and identity. Another strong theme, seen consistently throughout, was the widespread use of indigenous plant species. Designers embraced locally native flora to strengthen ecological connections, foster biodiversity, and ground their gardens in place and story. This shift reflects a growing commitment to sustainability, cultural recognition, and a stronger appreciation for caring for and working in harmony with the land through thoughtful garden design.
These themes reflect a broader shift in the industry toward design with intention, gardens that are not only practical but layered with meaning, resilience, and narrative depth. It’s a direction we proudly support at ShapeScaper, by providing materials that enable designers to bring these layered values to life, from practical infrastructure to aesthetic impact.
Closing Reflections
As we reflect on another fantastic year at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, we are proud of the role our products played in so many remarkable gardens. Whether as the foundation of a student’s first showpiece or the sculptural statement in a medal-winning installation, ShapeScaper was there to support great design.
We thank all the designers, builders, educators and attendees who made the 2025 show so vibrant. And of course, a special thanks to Matt York for trusting us to bring his vision to life with custom steel features.
As outdoor design continues to evolve, we’ll be right there alongside it, supplying the tools, materials, and support to shape what comes next.