Mayfield Park in Manchester welcomes a new garden featuring 19 trees, seven of which are fit with technology that allows horticultural teams to understand how trees are feeling in the face of climate change.

Developed by Avande, the Tree Talk technology communicate real-time data about the conditions the trees are coping with, while an AI system analyses the information to identify early signs of stress, drought or disease. It allows allows two-way communication between park staff and the trees, enabling questions such as “How are you feeling?” or “What do you need?” to help inform horticultural decisions and identify how urban trees can have a more resilient future.

Henriette Nowne, Mayfield's development director, says, "trees will play an increasingly important role in helping our cities adapt to a hotter climate, which makes it particularly exciting to be exploring their future here at Mayfield," adding:

"Mayfield is about transforming a part of Manchester that was once overlooked and largely inaccessible into a vibrant, biodiverse landscape where people and nature can thrive alongside one another. The Intelligent Garden is a natural fit for that vision, bringing together nature, technology and design to explore how our urban landscapes can respond to the challenges of climate change."

First seen at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2025, the Avande Intelligent Garden designed by Tom Massey has been relocated to Manchester's first park for 100 years.

Massey comments:

"Moving the Avanade Intelligent Garden to Mayfield has given us the opportunity to take that idea out of the show garden environment and test it in a real urban setting. The site is challenging, with surrounding hard surfaces exacerbating heat, limited soil depths, pollution from busy roads and all the pressures that city trees face. That makes it the perfect place to explore how sensors, monitoring and AI could help us better understand what trees need and give them a greater chance of surviving and thriving."

Duncan Paybody, director of landscape at Studio Egret West, the landscape architecture firm behind Mayfield Park, also comments:

"By reusing elements from the original garden alongside locally sourced materials and site-specific planting, we’re creating a space that feels rooted in Mayfield and its industrial heritage, while telling a new story about how nature, design and technology can work together. It’s a garden that has been shaped by its place, and by the conversations and collaborations that have brought it here.” 

The garden will be open to the public from 22 September 2026.