Garden for the Future, One Year On: Walk and Talk with Joe Perkins

This talk explores year one of the Garden for the Future Sheffield Park at Sheffield Park and Garden, a bold new “garden within a garden” designed by Joe Perkins in collaboration with the National Trust. Conceived as a response to climate change, the project combines high horticulture, experimentation and global plant palettes to test resilience to extremes of temperature and rainfall.

Reflecting on its first year since planting in spring 2025, the session will highlight what has established strongly—particularly the performance of climate-adapted species and the success of the layered, succession-led planting approach. It will also consider what has been more challenging, including establishment under dry conditions, plant losses, and the realities of managing a highly experimental planting scheme in a public garden setting. Crucially, the Garden for the Future is not an isolated intervention, but a testing ground. Observations and data gathered are already informing decision-making across the wider landscape, shaping approaches to resilience, species selection and long-term management. The talk will explore how these lessons are influencing new and existing areas, including evolving strategies for the planting around Ten Foot Pond.

Ultimately, this is a story of adaptation, learning and iteration—continuing Sheffield Park’s long tradition of horticultural innovation while preparing for an uncertain climatic future.