Sky Gardening Challenge winners announced at celebration event

Throughout spring and summer, the challenge encouraged and supported people across Greater Manchester to green their balconies and window boxes. Hundreds of people have taken part in the campaign. The campaign set out to boost urban greening and empower people to help green the city in their own spaces, no matter how small.

People who signed up received some free balcony gardening essentials to get them started, including seeds, access to workshops, a balcony gardening guide and invaluable advice from the judges and community partners along the way.

As part of Sky Gardening Challenge, the conservation charity ran a city-wide competition for budding balcony gardeners. Entrants were encouraged to share their balcony gardening story and enter one of five categories spanning all levels of experience, including a One Pot Power category, which emphasised that even the smallest actions can enhance wellbeing and foster a greener urban environment.

Entries included a balcony that housed a whole brood of ducklings, memorials for beloved family members, and a pot of mixed seeds from a variety of discarded fruits and vegetables.

Winners were announced on Tuesday 30 September at a celebration event held at Dukes 92 in Manchester, attended shortlisted and winning competition entrants.

There were five top prize winners:

• Emily Bush in the One Pot Power category.
• Harry Gray in the Wild about Wildlife category.
• Lana Dang in the Urban Farming category.
• Gary and Maureen Kynaston in the Greener Ground Floors category.
• Anonymous winner in the Cultivating Creativity category.

Emily Bush, winner of the One Pot Power category said: ‘My initial plans for this pot were for herbs and tomatoes, however both my partner and my housemate have been sneakily adding seeds after chopping fruit and vegetables. All of these were plants that I refused to believe would grow in such a small pot, inside my apartment and in our UK climate.

“However, my partner, who is Palestinian, and my flatmate who is Ghanian, insisted that they would sprout. And they were right! Just a few weeks later we saw all sorts of tiny green shoots...I've loved seeing my partner and flatmates get so excited about their seedlings. Each one that sprouts is a success in their eyes and I can see their faces light up with happiness.

Emily continued: “For them, I think it's a little reminder of home...I hope that one day, I have plentiful produce which I can share with my friends, family and the community to encourage them to try some experimental planting too!’

Other entrants also commented on the positive impact of balcony gardening on their wellbeing and the unexpected role it can play in community building.

One budding balcony gardener said: “Nothing calms me like gardening and sitting on my balcony around my plants. It’s really comforting to have my own little oasis in the city.”

Another said: “Gardening has meant that I’ve been able to get to know my next-door neighbour as we’ll often bump into each other and catch up when we’re both out watering our plants! Without my garden, I wouldn’t go on my balcony or get to know my neighbour.”

More entrants’ stories will be shared online on Instagram and Facebook at @NTSkyGardeningChallenge

Entries were judged by a panel comprising Victoria Holden, founder of Northern Lily Community Interest Company; award-winning garden designer Jason Williams, also known as the Cloud Gardener; and Teddy Jones, assistant gardener at the National Trust’s Castlefield Viaduct.

Victoria Holden, founder of Northern Lily CIC said: “Projects like this are key to helping people maximise their unique growing spaces in an accessible way. Urban balcony and small space gardening doesn’t only have mental health benefits but also has a direct impact on urban wildlife and biodiversity. It’s been brilliant being part of the Sky Gardening Challenge this year and seeing people’s balcony gardening stories come to life – including how greening their small spaces has helped them connect to their communities and boosted wellbeing.”

Housing associations and community greening organisations from across Greater Manchester also worked with the National Trust to deliver workshops to get people started and give specialist balcony gardening advice.

Salford housing association Salix Homes, which owns 8,000 homes across Salford including 20 high rise blocks, encouraged its customers to take part. They hosted a series of gardening workshops, delivered by Plant CIC, to encourage people with balconies to give greening a go.

Warren Carlon, Director of Communities at Salix Homes, said: “We’re proud to support the Sky Gardening Challenge and to work alongside the National Trust to encourage our customers living in high rise homes across Salford to get ‘greening’. It’s been a great opportunity for people to connect with nature and improve their own wellbeing, and this competition has been a fantastic way to show you don’t need a garden to enjoy nature or grow your own produce. Even just a few plants can make a real difference, especially in urban environments, and we’re proud to see how our customers have brought their balconies to life.”

As part of the National Trust’s new 10-year strategy, the charity wants to end unequal access to nature and inspire more people to care for the nature around them. Over the next decade the Trust will continue to work with others in Greater Manchester and other urban areas to bring more nature and heritage to where people live.

Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust said: “The National Trust has an essential role to play in helping everyone access green spaces and we know that people living in cities can have the least access to nature on their doorstep. The experiences and stories from participants in Sky Gardening Challenge are powerful – showing why access to nature is so important. This project is about individual action – it’s about having the agency to connect to nature at home so that you can enjoy those things that are common needs to us all – access to nature, beauty and history. The scheme this year has shown the big impact of greening small spaces such as urban balconies and window boxes.”

The National Trust would like to thank competition partners STIHL and CJ Wildlife for their kind donation of competition prizes.

The Sky Gardening Challenge has been a trial scheme in Greater Manchester so far, and the Trust hopes to roll out the challenge more widely in 2026 and beyond.