Gold medal and Garden of the Year for CPRE garden at RHS Chelsea

The Campaign to Protect Rural England’s garden On the Edge has been awarded a prestigious Gold Medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 and Garden of the Year in the Show Garden category.

Created for CPRE’s centenary year by Sarah Eberle — the most decorated garden designer in RHS Chelsea history — the garden marks her 20th Chelsea garden, her 50th year in horticulture, and her 14th RHS Chelsea Gold Medal.

On the Edge shines a light on the overlooked countryside on the edges of our towns and cities — places often undervalued, under pressure and full of extraordinary potential. The judges praised the garden for its emotional impact, craftsmanship and planting, recognising a design that combines naturalistic beauty with a powerful environmental message.

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A ‘powerful message’

Created with support from Project Giving Back, On the Edge transforms a neglected urban fringe landscape into a place of abundance, sanctuary and repair. At its heart stands Gaia — a guardian figure carved from a fallen mature tree by chainsaw artist Chris Wood — surrounded by nearly 3,000 plants woven through a snaking dry-stone wall and flowing willow structures.

The awards recognise not only the garden’s powerful message and planting, but also the extraordinary craftsmanship behind its construction. The garden brings together an exceptional team of makers and builders, including willow artist Tom Hare, fifth-generation dry-stone wallers Lydia Noble and Cuthbert Noble, landscape contractors The Outdoor Room and Specialised Metal Fabrications.

Roger Mortlock, chief executive of CPRE, said:

‘We couldn’t be prouder of Sarah and all the team for bringing England’s edgelands to life in this beautiful garden. Thanks to them, our On the Edge campaign has reached millions of people across the country and beyond. Winning Garden of the Year is the icing on the cake – what a fantastic result!’

Sarah Eberle said:

‘I am thrilled to bits to receive Garden of the Year. The difference between a good garden and a great garden is how it makes you feel and I’m often told by the next generation of gardeners that I have inspired them, which, if nothing else, is the greatest gift of all.

‘This garden’s mission is very personal to me. I am a country girl through and through so I embody the same message and beliefs that the Campaign to Protect Rural England and this garden holds.’

Chris Bailes, Chair of the Judging panel said:

‘Sarah’s garden combines elements of myth and remarkable theatre. The planting speaks to an exceptionally rare sense of atmosphere, created through a clear connection to the urban and the countryside.

‘The garden achieves a beautiful, natural planting style that is difficult to accomplish, bringing wildness into a garden space with elegance and light touch.’

Fragile, overlooked edgelands

The garden celebrates the fragile, often-forgotten countryside on the fringes of towns and cities — places that connect millions of people to nature in everyday life, yet remain under constant pressure from development and neglect. Through the accompanying On the Edge campaign, CPRE is calling for every town and city to be surrounded by protected countryside for nature, climate and wellbeing.

After RHS Chelsea, the garden will be relocated to Park Hill in Sheffield, where it will become a permanent community green space — continuing CPRE’s long legacy of campaigning to protect the countryside around towns and cities.

Find out more about the garden at RHS Chelsea 2026 here, and more about our On the Edge campaign here.