CPRE On the Edge garden at 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Local photographer Mark Spencer, shares the remarkable story behind garden designer Sarah Eberle's Chelsea Flower Show garden for CPRE that proudly showcased our county on the

One of my favourite journeys in Derbyshire is the road between Ashbourne and Buxton. As you climb up onto the limestone plateau, travelling alongside the Tissington Trail, the dry stone walls begin to stretch for miles across the landscape, weaving through the hills in every direction.

Whether glowing amongst the fresh greens of May or standing stark beneath brooding autumn and winter skies, those walls always tell me I’m home.

Landscape photographs of the Derbyshire landscape taken from the roadside on the A515 Ashbourne to Buxton Road. (Image: Mark Spencer)

Along this road is a discreet lay-by that my dad once told me was a favourite stopping place for my grandad. He would pull over there, pour himself a drink from his Thermos flask and simply admire the view.

I suppose my love of the Derbyshire landscape has been passed down through the generations. As a Derbyshire-born photographer, these landscapes have inspired me for as long as I can remember.

So, this year, travelling south once again to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show felt particularly special – armed with the knowledge there was going to be a piece of Derbyshire at the heart of one of the show’s Main Avenue gardens.

I had been commissioned to photograph the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) On the Edge garden, designed by Sarah Eberle, one of Chelsea’s most celebrated designers with multiple gold medals to her name.

Returning to Main Avenue after stepping back from the show in recent years, Sarah was also celebrating her 50th year in horticulture, whilst the CPRE, the countryside charity, was marking its centenary year. No pressure, then.

I have been fortunate enough to photograph several of Sarah’s previous Chelsea gardens and some of her private commissions, so I knew the importance she places on atmosphere, texture and storytelling.

(Image: Mark Spencer)

When Sarah told me she was returning to Chelsea and shared the plans for this latest garden, it quickly became apparent that this year’s project was going to be something rather special.

This project suddenly became personal for me. I wanted to capture more than just the finished garden; I wanted to document the remarkable journey and the people who brought it into being. In doing so, I hoped to celebrate the craft of photography alongside the many traditional skills that were shaping the garden itself.

Over the following months, I found myself immersed in a world of extraordinary craftsmanship. Sarah had assembled a team of artisans whose traditional skills would become every bit as important as the planting itself.

I watched sculptor Chris Wood transform a fallen redwood into Gaia — Mother Nature herself — using immense sections of timber, while willow artist Tom Hare patiently manipulated lengths of willow into flowing organic forms that appeared to grow naturally through the landscape. The team at Noble Stoneworks crafted beautiful Derbyshire dry stone walls and an elegant archway, whilst Mark Britton and The Outdoor Room landscaping team brought the entire vision together on the Chelsea showground.

Sarah and her planting team – including Fran, Emma and Gillian, to name a few – completed the garden with an exquisite and naturalistic planting palette, from dramatic specimen trees to the smallest plants tucked into the crevices of the stone walls.

(Image: Mark Spencer)

The CPRE On the Edge garden is ultimately about protecting the overlooked countryside at the edges of our towns and cities — the places where footpaths wind between fields, where children play, where dog walkers wander at dusk and where communities remain connected to nature.These transitional spaces, sometimes referred to as ‘edgelands’, are increasingly under pressure from development and urban expansion.

For me, that message feels particularly personal. Living in Ashbourne, it often seems as though new housing developments continue to push further towards the surrounding countryside. Derbyshire is fortunate to benefit from the protection offered by the Peak District National Park, yet that inevitably places increasing pressure on the remaining unprotected areas beyond its boundaries.

Balancing the need for new homes with the preservation of the landscapes that define our county is undoubtedly complex. Having grown up with these spaces as my childhood playground, I feel strongly that we must continue to protect the green landscapes around our towns and cities — not only for wildlife and the beauty of the countryside itself, but for the wellbeing and enjoyment of future generations.

Visitors to Chelsea could hardly fail to be captivated by Gaia, lying serenely amongst a wild meadow at the heart of the garden. The sculpture immediately became the emotional focal point of Sarah’s design, drawing people in with both its scale and quiet stillness.

Yet, on closer inspection, Gaia subtly began to merge into the surrounding landscape. Derbyshire stone formed part of her hips and torso before spiralling away through the garden.

Interwoven through and around the stonework was an elegant willow structure representing her flowing hair, knitting together sculpture, craftsmanship and landscape into one cohesive whole.

Of all the elements within the garden, it was the Derbyshire stone walling that resonated most strongly with me. The stone for the garden had been sourced from just up the road from where I live.

Amongst the crowds, noise and grandeur of Chelsea, there suddenly existed a quiet piece of Derbyshire that made me feel completely at home. The planting itself was unmistakably Sarah Eberle: beautiful, atmospheric and richly textured. Large specimen trees rose above softer underplanting which, at first glance, appeared to be a traditional herbaceous border.

Look more closely, however, and many of the plants were species more commonly dismissed as weeds. It was a subtle reminder that a weed is often simply a plant growing in the wrong place.

In keeping with the garden’s wider message about overlooked landscapes, the planting gently challenged our assumptions about beauty and value in the natural world. As Sarah herself explained, the scheme was perhaps a little more controlled than true wilderness would allow — but that, inevitably, is part of the Chelsea effect.

The judges clearly recognised the extraordinary achievement of everyone involved. The garden resulted in Sarah Eberle’s 14th Chelsea Gold Medal, as well as the coveted Garden of the Year award.

Mark and Sarah at Chelsea Flower Show (Image: Mark Spencer)

Standing quietly in the early morning light before the crowds arrived, camera in hand, I realised I wasn’t simply photographing a Chelsea garden; I was documenting the culmination of months of dedication, creativity and craftsmanship from people who had poured a little of themselves into every detail. The pressure I had felt throughout the project suddenly made perfect sense — I wanted my photographs to honour the extraordinary work of everyone involved.

Yet, as with all Chelsea gardens, its time on Main Avenue was fleeting. Thankfully though, the story of the garden continues and it now begins a new chapter.

The garden has been carefully dismantled and is being reimagined at Park Hill in Sheffield, one of the city’s most recognisable and historically significant housing developments, allowing its message to endure long after the crowds have departed from southwest London.

For me, there is something wonderfully fitting about that. A garden inspired by the landscapes between our towns and countryside; shaped by Derbyshire stone, traditional craftsmanship and a message of stewardship, finding a permanent home close to the landscapes that first inspired it. Whenever I drive that familiar road between Ashbourne and Buxton, passing the dry stone walls that have stood for generations, I am reminded that our connection to place runs deep. Those landscapes shape who we are.

This year’s Chelsea garden may have won Gold and Garden of the Year, but perhaps its greatest achievement is encouraging us to look again at the spaces we so often take for granted — and ask how we might protect them for generations still to come..

For more on the work CPRE does, visit cpre.org.uk. For more on Sarah’s work, visit sarah-eberle.com. To view more of Mark’s Chelsea Flower Show images head to mark-spencer.com.