Avande Intelligent Garden wins gold

Avande Intelligent Garden wins gold: The Avanade Intelligent Garden, designed by leading UK landscape designer Tom Massey and architect Je Ahn, has been awarded a Gold medal at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Created in partnership with Avanade and Microsoft, the garden explores how nature and technology can work in harmony to address one of the most pressing challenges facing urban green infrastructure: the survival and long-term health of city trees.

Using Microsoft’s pioneering technology, Avanade has developed a holistic approach to understanding the conditions that affect tree vitality, enabling more informed and responsive care. At the heart of the concept is TreeTalk—an innovative AI tool that enables two-way communication between gardeners and trees, allowing gardeners to ask questions such as “How are you feeling?” or “What do you need?” to help guide horticultural care. Using a network of sensors, the system gathers real-time data on soil health, air quality, and weather conditions to enable responses, while trees can also be configured to send alerts when under stress.   Following its debut at Chelsea, the garden – which also won the award for Best Construction – will be permanently relocated to Mayfield Park in Manchester, where the technology will be tested in a real urban setting.

On receiving the medal Tom Massey said: “Winning Gold at Chelsea is a real honour, and a reflection of the brilliant collaboration behind this project. The garden was designed to ask questions — about the future of our urban trees, the role technology might play in supporting nature, and how we look after our shared green spaces. I’m proud of what we’ve made together, and grateful to have had the chance to bring this idea to life at RHS Chelsea.”

Annette Giardina, Chief Innovation & Sustainability Officer at Avanade UK, said:
“At Avanade, we believe in the power of Microsoft technology to create meaningful, sustainable change, and The Avanade Intelligent Garden is a perfect example of that. This project is about blending innovation with nature to solve real-world challenges in urban environments. We are thrilled to see our collaboration with Tom Massey and Je Ahn recognized at such a prestigious event, and we look forward to further developing this prototype and realising how the garden’s technology can go on to support the long-term health and vitality of urban trees.”

As part of the royal visit on Monday afternoon, Avanade welcomed HM The King onto the garden where he spoke to Tom and Je about the potential of the garden’s technology to improve the health of trees in cities, reflecting the King’s long-standing passion for the environment and his well-known belief in the importance of listening to nature.

After the show, the garden will be permanently relocated to Mayfield Park in Manchester, where it will form part of a major extension to the city’s award-winning green space designed by Studio Egret West. There, the technology will be tested in a live urban setting—offering a bold, real-world model for how cities can better support and sustain their green infrastructure.

Speaking about the relocation Tom Massey said: “What’s exciting about this garden is that it doesn’t end here. Moving it to Mayfield Park takes it out of the show garden context and into the real world. We’ll be able to test and evolve the concept in a live urban setting, and explore how technology might help us care for nature in responsive and resource-efficient ways — supporting healthier public spaces that benefit both people and wildlife, and that can adapt as our climate continues to change.”

Danny Williams, Estates Manager at Mayfield Park said: “We’re absolutely delighted to see the Avanade Intelligent Garden receive a Gold medal at RHS Chelsea. This garden reflects the values at the heart of Mayfield—putting nature, people and long-term resilience first—and we’re incredibly proud to be its future home.”

For the latest industry news visit landscapingmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Landscaping Matters