Shaping Sustainable Spaces at the Perth Royal Show 2026
Rethinking the Western Australian Garden
What does the garden of the future look like in Western Australia?
At the 2026 Perth Royal Show, The Forever Project set out to answer that question with a demonstration garden showing how beautiful outdoor spaces can also respond to some of the challenges of our local environment.
Created in collaboration with Water Corporation and Synergy, the garden brought together Waterwise gardening, Firewise design, rewilding and sustainable landscape principles in one inviting outdoor space.
StrataGreen, one of our WA-based suppliers, partnered with The Forever Project to supply Formline Landscape Edging for the display, helping shape and define the garden while demonstrating how considered landscape materials can become an integral part of the overall design.
Shaping the Garden with Formline
Throughout The Forever Project's display, Formline Landscape Edging was used to create clean definition between planting and surrounding landscape areas.
The strength of Formline lies in its simplicity.
Crisp straight lines can provide structure to contemporary landscapes, while smooth curves allow garden beds and pathways to follow more organic forms. Once installed, the edging becomes part of the landscape rather than competing with it.
This was particularly effective within the Royal Show garden, where Formline provided structure to a landscape deliberately designed to feel natural, relaxed and full of life.
The display also incorporated Formline Circular Planters, using weathering steel to introduce height, structure and a distinctive architectural element amongst the surrounding planting.
As the weathering steel develops its characteristic patina, its warm, earthy appearance works naturally alongside foliage, stone, mulch and other landscape materials.
A Garden Designed for Western Australia
Creating a resilient landscape starts with designing for the conditions in which that garden needs to survive.
For Western Australian gardens, that means considering everything from water availability and soil conditions to plant selection, maintenance and bushfire risk.
The Forever Project's Royal Show garden demonstrated that responding to those challenges doesn't mean creating a landscape that feels sparse or purely functional.
Instead, careful planting and considered landscape materials can work together to create outdoor spaces that are beautiful, practical and better suited to their environment.
Making Every Drop Count
Waterwise design was one of the central themes of the display.
Rather than trying to force a garden to work against the local climate, Waterwise landscaping considers how plant selection, soil improvement, irrigation and garden design can work together to use water more efficiently.
Choosing plants suited to local conditions and grouping species with similar watering requirements can help reduce unnecessary water use while still creating a thriving landscape.
Water Corporation's Waterwise resources encourage Western Australians to consider these factors when creating or renovating gardens, including hydrozoning, efficient irrigation, healthy soils and appropriate plant selection.
The Royal Show display brought many of these ideas together in a finished garden, allowing visitors to see how Waterwise principles can translate into an attractive everyday landscape.
Bringing Nature Back into the Landscape
Another important theme explored throughout the garden was rewilding.
Our gardens don't have to exist separately from the natural environment. With considered design, they can provide valuable habitat and food sources for birds, insects and other local wildlife.
Native and climate-appropriate planting can play an important role in this approach, particularly when plants are selected to provide shelter, seasonal flowers and other resources for local species.
Combined with defined garden beds and thoughtfully arranged landscape areas, this creates spaces that feel less like isolated gardens and more like extensions of the surrounding environment.
Thinking Firewise
The garden also demonstrated how Firewise principles can be considered alongside Waterwise and rewilding objectives.
Firewise landscape design looks at factors such as the selection and placement of vegetation, ongoing garden maintenance and the materials incorporated around the landscape.
Within the Royal Show display, visitors could see these ideas translated into a finished garden through considered plant selection and landscaping choices such as using crushed recycled brick instead of conventional organic mulch in appropriate areas.
Importantly, designing a Firewise garden doesn't mean removing plants or sacrificing the character of the landscape.
It is about making more considered decisions about what is planted, where it is positioned and which materials are incorporated into the space.
As a steel landscape edging system, Formline provides a non-combustible way to establish boundaries and definition within garden areas, allowing it to sit naturally within a broader Firewise landscape approach.
Formline as Part of the Landscape
One of the things we love about seeing Formline used in demonstration gardens like this is that the product doesn't need to become the focus.
Instead, it helps create the framework around which the landscape takes shape.
At the Perth Royal Show, the steel edging established clean boundaries and flowing lines, while the Circular Planters introduced height and structure amongst the planting.
Together, these elements demonstrate how steel can provide a strong architectural presence while still complementing a softer, natural garden.
It's an approach that can translate across residential gardens, commercial landscapes and public spaces – anywhere that clean definition, flexibility and considered material selection are important to the design.
About The Forever Project
The Forever Project has long worked to make sustainability practical and accessible, using education and demonstration gardens to show how better environmental choices can be incorporated into everyday homes and landscapes.
Their Royal Show display allowed visitors to walk through these ideas rather than simply read about them – seeing how Waterwise gardening, Firewise principles, rewilding and sustainable landscape choices can come together in one cohesive space.
We're proud to see Formline Landscape Edging and Circular Planters incorporated into another Forever Project landscape and to have the range supported locally through StrataGreen, one of our Western Australian suppliers.
Shape Your Landscape with Formline
The 2026 Perth Royal Show demonstrated that creating a resilient garden doesn't have to mean choosing between design, functionality and sustainability.
With thoughtful planting, appropriate materials and considered landscape design, each can support the other.
Formline helps provide the structure to bring those ideas together – from clean garden borders and sweeping curves to statement Circular Planters that become part of the landscape itself.
Explore the Formline range or find your local Formline supplier to start shaping your next landscape.