Nestled amid plants native to the U.K., a giant figure of Gaia, or Mother Nature, sleeps in a verdant garden. With willow-branch locks shaped by artist Tom Hare and a crown of leaves, the figure’s face and shoulders are made from a fallen mature tree carved by Tim Wood. A winding pathway leads beneath an arch that extends the character’s torso, created in the tradition of dry stone walls and meticulously assembled by the family-run outfit Noble Stonework.
You’ll find Gaia in a garden titled “On the Edge” at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which has taken the top prize of Garden of the Year. The project is a collaboration between designer Sarah Eberle and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which champions the countryside and the sustainable practices necessary to protect and preserve its ecosystems.
For this year’s exhibit, Eberle emphasized “edgelands,” or spaces between rural and urbanized areas like the borders of fields or even residential gardens. Think roadside berms or the seemingly unruly growth beside a canal. Often, these spots just look like a lot of weeds. Eberle sees not only the beauty, but the value, in these overlooked areas.
“These spaces connect millions of people to nature in everyday life, yet they’re undervalued and under constant pressure,” CPRE says in a statement. “This garden is an invitation to see them differently: not as ‘leftover’ land, but as living places that can recover and thrive with the right care.” Eberle’s choice of plants has a slightly wild aesthetic, with vines taking over the stone arch—redolent of the U.K.’s historic stone bridges—and a graceful yet somehow satisfyingly chaotic arrangement of plants we might associate with untamed overgrowth.
The garden’s design encourages people to consider using natural materials, cultivating local plants to help pollinators, and embracing “flaws” like old stumps or rocky areas that can be havens for wildlife. Amid nature’s innate rhythms, Gaia is a gentle protector who snoozes calmly with everything in balance. Eberele describes the effect: “A sense of abundance, a landscape under repair, the beauty in the ordinary. It’s about how it makes you feel—it’s almost a homecoming, an embrace, a hug.”
The Chelsea Flower Show is the flagship event of the Royal Horticultural Society, and it has been held on the grounds of the Royal Hospital since 1913, with the exception of a few skipped seasons during the two World Wars and in 2020. It’s not just limited to British gardeners, however: exhibitors from around the globe conceive of some of the most creative gardens imaginable. Tickets are available on the RHS website, and the show continues through May 23 in London.
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