Life on the Verge, designed by Wild Design Studio, will be permanently rebuilt at the entrance to the Railway Land Local Nature Reserve this summer. Awarded a prestigious Silver-Gilt medal at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2025, the garden was originally created as a call to reimagine roadside verges as biodiverse urban corridors. It will now serve as a welcoming green gateway to one of Lewes’s most loved wild spaces – and as a lasting symbol of how even overlooked places can support people, pollinators and plants.
Bringing this garden back to life will be a true community effort. Over 30 volunteers from the Railway Land Wildlife Trust’s Meadow Minders group, pupils from Western Road School, young people on work placements, members of Wildflower Lewes, Lewes District Council and the Wild Design Studio team will all be getting their hands dirty to help with the rebuild on Tuesday 8 July.
The project forms part of the Lewes Mosaic Project – a growing network of wildlife-friendly spaces across the town. Spearheaded by the Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Common Cause Cooperative, and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Mosaic Project connects people and nature through green wellbeing activities and habitat creation, from school gardens and allotments to nature walks and therapeutic horticulture.
“This garden captures everything the Lewes Mosaic is about – creating beautiful, biodiverse spaces that support both people and wildlife,” said Helen Meade, CEO of the Railway Land Wildlife Trust. “It challenges the idea that nature only belongs in the countryside, showing how wildness can thrive in unexpected places and offer space for connection, care and wellbeing.”
Designed by Sussex-based Wild Design Studio, Life on the Verge features wildflowers, grasses and bee habitats woven through a design that challenges tidy, conventional aesthetics in favour of naturalistic beauty and biodiversity. It also includes striking eco artworks: a roadside-style sign by artist Nessie Ramm, and bee-post bollards created by Niche Environmental.
The garden will remain permanently located at the entrance to the Lewes Railway Land and will be free to visit and explore – an invitation to pause, look closer and discover how thriving habitats can grow in the most unlikely of places.
The Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust
The Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust was founded by local people in 1988, passionate about preserving this beautiful, tranquil place. It is based in the Linklater Pavilion, a purpose-built environmental education centre on the edge of the nature reserve and a stone’s throw from the shopping centre of Lewes. The Railway Land was formerly a railway marshalling yard and was declared a nature reserve in 1995. The site covers almost 40 hectares and is situated in the South Downs National Park and the Brighton and Lewes Downs UNESCO World Biosphere Region.
Wild Design Studio
Wild Design Studio is an ecologically conscious landscape design practice working across East and West Sussex, London, and beyond. Drawing from ecological principles, the studio creates gardens that prioritise habitat creation, biodiversity, and a deep sense of place. From wildflower meadows to pollinator corridors, Wild Design Studio blends science, creativity, and a love for the natural world to design spaces that are both beautiful and purposeful.
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Life on the Verge Photo: Submitted
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Life on the Verge Photo: Submitted
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Life on the Verge Photo: Submitted
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Life on the Verge Photo: Submitted