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Buttercups, cow parsley and dog violets take centre stage in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show's Garden of the Year. The day started under grey skies with drizzle hanging in the air, but by the time the top gong was announced the sun was shining over Main Avenue.

In The Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: On the Edge, Chelsea's most decorated designer Sarah Eberle has transformed weeds, hedgerows and forsaken plants into something quietly spectacular. It's less like a show garden and more like stumbling across a forgotten corner of countryside that has been allowed to flourish.

Sarah, who has clocked up a record 14 gold medals and four 'Best In' category wins, said: "I am thrilled to bits to receive Garden of the Year. The difference between a good garden and a great garden is how it makes you feel and I'm often told by the next generation of gardeners that I have inspired them, which, if nothing else, is the greatest gift of all.

"This garden's mission is very personal to me. I am a country girl through and through so I embody the same message and beliefs that the Campaign to Protect Rural England and this garden holds."

Dominating the space is a fallen tree carved into the figure of sleeping Gaia, Mother Nature herself. The planting begins in soft creams, whites and buttery yellows, then deepens into pinks and purples in the back beds.

Snow rushes, ferns, hawthorn and dogwood weave through the borders, while Guelder-rose viburnum creates dappled shade with clusters of white blossoms like pom-poms. Frothy ornamental grasses blur the lines between cultivated and wild. There are no flashy showstoppers here, just common-or-garden favourites: pink cranesbill geraniums, peach-toned geums and foxgloves in white and dusky pink-purple.

"Sarah's garden combines elements of myth and remarkable theatre," Chris Bailes, who chairs the judging panel, said. "The planting speaks to an exceptionally rare sense of atmosphere, created through a clear connection to the urban and the countryside.

"Unexpected beauty is found in the concrete drain repurposed from an agricultural accessory into a mesmerising water feature using common duckweed. The garden achieves a beautiful, natural planting style that is difficult to accomplish, bringing wildness into a garden space with elegance and light touch."

It drew huge crowds all day and the message had clearly struck a chord. Although not everyone was won over, I overheard one visitor exclaim: "I hate that sculpture!" But Adam and Rebecca Yarner, visitors from Dallas, Texas, were captivated by it. Rebecca told me: "It's just gorgeous. I love the sculpture, I think it's stunning. It feels very peaceful. I have an English-style garden at home, so this is right up my alley."

Adam hits the nail on the head, saying: "It's implying that nature is always on the verge of taking over and you have to account for its designs within your plans because it's going to exert itself and it's going to come up with something better than you could."

After Monday's celebrity scrum, Tuesday was decidedly less star-studded. Still, I spotted BBC presenter Anjelica Bell was hard at work, while Gardeners' World stalwarts Adam Frost, Sue Kent and Carol Klein were busy filming in the Great Pavilion. But the spotlight had shifted firmly back where it belongs: on the plants. I was pleased to see the Lady Garden Foundation's Silent No More garden by designer Darren Hawkes, pick up a well-deserved gold medal.

And this year's RHS Plant of the Year went to the hosta Red Ninja by Ninja Kramer and exhibited by Sienna Hosta. A lush, showy specimen that lives up to its name. It has vivid magenta stems (or petioles, as I am reliably informed), topped with burnished ombre leaves of deep green into burgundy, with dramatic veining. It's a beaut but sadly, hostas and I have a troubled history. Every one I've ever planted has been demolished by slugs.

Over on the Hogarth Hostas stand, gold medal-winning grower Jonathan Hogarth shared a trick that might just tempt me back. He tells me to paint or varnish the inside of a terracotta pot with a non-toxic sealant. "Terracotta is porous," he explained. "When you water a plant in a terracotta pot, around two thirds is absorbed by the pot itself. Lining it makes it slug-proof because slugs and snails move using a mucus trail to climb. If the pot is lined, the outside stays completely dry and when they try to climb it, it absorbs their mucus." So there you have it, I may well give 'em another go.