The Avanade Intelligent Garden

The Avanade Intelligent Garden is a living, breathing garden that explores how technology can support the long-term survival and success of urban trees. Created for RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025, the garden brings together forest garden-inspired planting, handcrafted natural materials, and cutting-edge AI—demonstrating how digital tools can complement human care and ecological design.

The Plight of Urban Trees

Urban trees are climate heroes. They cool our cities, clean the air, reduce flood risk, and support biodiversity. Yet in the UK, nearly half of all newly planted urban trees die within ten years—and as many as 30% fail in their first year. Added to that it takes up to 16 years for a newly planted tree to be come carbon neutral and up to 50 years to each its ecological peak. This garden raises awareness of the pressures urban trees face and explores how technology might improve their chances of survival.

Technology in Harmony with Nature

Subtly embedded in the garden is an intelligent system that collects real-time environmental data—monitoring soil moisture, pH, temperature, humidity and tree growth. AI analyses this data to identify patterns and generate practical, actionable insights. Visitors can even converse with the trees through a custom “TreeTalk” interface, powered by AI, giving these silent climate allies a voice.

Importantly, the system does not automate care—it supports human decision-making. This is a tool to enhance, not replace, the knowledge of tree custodians.

A Forest Garden Approach

The planting is inspired by layered forest ecosystems. A biodiverse canopy of trees and large shrubs creates structure and shade, underplanted with perennials, groundcovers and climbers. A swale planted with moisture-loving species help manage stormwater naturally, while woodland-edge communities add seasonal texture and support pollinators.

This forest garden model promotes climate resilience, carbon capture, and ecological richness—creating the perfect context for data gathering that can inform future urban planting strategies.

Designed for Connection

The garden encourages connection on multiple levels:

• Connection with nature, through richly layered, biodiverse planting adapted to urban conditions.

• Connection with materials, including reclaimed elements and a striking pavilion clad in biodegradable mycelium panels, grown from fungi using ash trees felled due to dieback.

• Connection with craft, blending CNC-cut forms with traditional hand-joining by Sebastian Cox and his team of artisans.

• Connection with information, through AI-generated insights that can help support the long-term health of trees in cities.

A Garden That Lives On

After the show, the garden will be relocated to Mayfield Park in Manchester—an urban green space where the trees, planting and sensors will continue to evolve and generate data. The site will serve as a living lab to support future innovation in urban greening.

Interact with the garden online: intelligentgarden.avanade.com