A multi-award-winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden celebrating the importance of nature on the edge of our towns and cities has officially opened in its permanent home at Sheffield’s landmark Park Hill.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: On the Edge, designed by renowned landscape designer Sarah Eberle for the charity’s centenary year, has been carefully reimagined following its preview at RHS Chelsea 2026, where it won both a gold medal and Garden of the Year and was visited by His Majesty King Charles III and stars including Dame Judi Dench and Dame Joanna Lumley.
Now a welcoming community space to be enjoyed by local residents for generations to come, it was officially opened on Friday 7 August 2026.
Image: Joel Fildes
At the centre of the new garden stands the striking, giant Mother Nature guardian figure, created from fallen trees, Derbyshire stone, and willow. Remodelled for her public and permanent home, she will be surrounded by wildflowers, her dry-stone wall ‘body’ winding through the garden, forming an enclosed space for community gathering or quiet contemplation. Due to the heatwave, trees and climbing roses will be added in the autumn.
The garden, which is sponsored by the grant-giving charity Project Giving Back, highlights the importance of edgelands, the fragile spaces on the fringes of our towns and cities that connect people to nature in everyday life, yet are undervalued and under constant threat. It continues the legacy of Ethel Haythornthwaite, pioneer of the British countryside movement, activist and poet and one of CPRE’s earliest campaigners, who was instrumental in creating the Sheffield Green Belt.
Sarah Eberle said: “One of the most rewarding things about this project has been seeing it evolve from a temporary show garden into a place that will become part of everyday life. The heart of the design remains the Mother Nature figure but we’ve reimagined the garden specifically for Park Hill so it feels rooted in this landscape and community.”
CPRE chief executive Roger Mortlock said: “We want people to feel pride in their countryside and, through this garden and other spaces like it, to love the countryside that’s right on their doorstep.
“We’re so excited that the reimagined garden has now opened to the public at Sheffield's Park Hill. In many ways, Sheffield is the birthplace of CPRE, where some of our earliest calls for a Green Belt began. That work was led by the remarkable Ethel Haythornthwaite, and I hope she would be proud to see this garden celebrating the relationship between the city and the countryside that surrounds it.”
Park Hill has been transformed in recent years by a joint venture partnership of Urban Splash and Places for People with the pair working together to create hundreds of new homes, student accommodation, amenities and green spaces; work has recently started on a fourth phase – a limited edition collection of 125 homes that will be released for sale in September.
Speaking on behalf of the joint venture, Places for People’s Nilam Buchanan said: "The garden is a real moment for Park Hill, not just for the development, but for the neighbourhood as a whole. Green, welcoming, shared spaces are what make a place feel like home, and we hope this becomes somewhere residents genuinely love and use every day.
"It also feels like the right time as we prepare to release our next collection of homes here – some of the last that will ever be created at Park Hill – and it's a reminder of what makes this place so special. There's nowhere quite like it in Sheffield, and this garden is another reason to love it."
The garden’s designer, Sarah Eberle, is the most decorated designer at RHS Chelsea and 2026 marks her 50th year in horticulture. A team of artisans helped her to create the garden including fifth-generation stone wallers from Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, Lydia and Cuthbert Noble; renowned willow sculptor Tom Hare; and champion woodcarver and chainsaw artist Chris Wood. It was built at the show by multi award-winning landscapers, The Outdoor Room, and at Park Hill by Holmfirth-based Peak Landscapes.
Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, said: “The wonderful Mother Nature sculpture, and the quietly brilliant garden that Sarah created around her, was one of the most talked about features at this year’s RHS Chelsea. Seeing her settle into a permanent home in Sheffield, where she will continue to be nurtured by the Park Hill community, is a wonderful way to help mark our final year of funding gardens for good causes.”
The opening of the On the Edge garden comes ahead of the launch of CPRE's Love Your Countryside month, a nationwide celebration of the everyday countryside throughout September. People across England will be invited to explore, share and celebrate the places that matter to them, through four weeks of countryside inspiration, local walks and shared stories. People can sign up at www.cpre.org.uk/love-your-countryside to receive the free four-week email series, featuring ideas for everyday adventures, fresh ways to see the countryside differently, recommendations from writers and countryside voices, and hidden gems shared by CPRE branches across England.
