The garden shines a light on the overlooked countryside at the edge of our towns and cities. These ‘edgelands’ connect people to nature in everyday life, yet they sit on the edge of survival – undervalued and under constant threat. In CPRE’s centenary year, the garden shows there is hope on our doorstep: with the right care, these fragile places can recover and thrive for future generations.

Set on undeveloped land looked after by a community on the urban fringe, the garden showcases nature's resilience with a fallen mature tree carved into a guardian figure – Gaia or Mother Nature – that supports life. Surrounded by generous, naturalistic planting, her hand touches water from a shallow pool while her willow hair flows to form the top of a dry-stone wall that snakes through the naturalistic landscape.

The site includes naturalised garden plants from previous fly-tipping of garden waste, transforming neglect into abundance. Planting is rich, diverse and textural, celebrating UK native flowering plants often dismissed as 'weeds' but vital to our ecosystems. With boundaries mixing soft and hard finishes, it captures the essence of the rural-urban fringe where everyday countryside matters most to people in their daily lives.