Our gardening expert shares what to plant in a sensory garden.
Written by SARA JANE VON TRAPP
A SENSORY GARDEN is a place of refuge and delight for people of all ages and experiences, featuring plants that stimulate the senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste. In studies, sensory gardens have been shown to offer enriching and therapeutic benefits for people with dementia, autism, and ADHD. They can be enjoyed by people who are blind or vision impaired, and they are also an excellent way to introduce young children to the pleasures of gardening.
TOUCH: Few plants are as tactile as lamb’s ears. Low-growing, silvery-green foliage with a velvety texture covers the front of the perennial border and blooms with tiny pink flowers during the summer. Pair it with the soft, fragrant foliage of lavender or the intense aromatics of rosemary to engage both the senses of touch and smell, creating wafting scents that could evoke memories for people with dementia.
HEARING: Create serene soundscapes by including plants that attract songbirds, hanging a wind chime from a tree branch near the garden, or adding a small fountain that trickles water into the planting bed. That relaxing fountain sound can be especially calming for those with autism or with diminished eyesight. Butterfly weed and black-eyed Susans attract insects that finches and chickadees are mad for, and you just might lure a few hummingbirds and butterflies while you are at it.
SIGHT: Interesting plants with spiky flowers or bright leaves offer a dazzling display in any garden. Flashy gingers with their striking broad yellow stripes and yellow polka-dotted aucubas make for commanding performances. Or try something more subtle, but just as eye-catching, like coral bells. They are an evergreen or semi-evergreen groundcover that maintains a tidy clumping shape. Roughly 50 varieties are available to choose from, in every shade of pink to purple to almost black with silvery markings, as well as yellow with rippling wavy leaves. They also work well as container plants in sun or shade, depending on the variety.
TASTE: Introduce the sense of taste to an ornamental sensory garden with flavorful herbs and edible flowers. Although tasty mints can be pesky because they spread furiously, the stems are fun to introduce to a young child’s fingers because all plants in the mint family have square stems, a unique trait. Crush a few leaves into sweet tea for a cool, minty refreshment. Peppery nasturtiums can be plucked, leaves and all, to jazz up salads and sandwiches, and they are perennial in our climate.
SMELL: Lilacs and roses — especially the older varieties, which were bred for their intense aroma — appeal to most everyone’s sense of smell. ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ and the climber ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’ are heritage rose varieties with strong, spicy perfumes. Warm Savannah evenings on the porch will tease out their heavenly essence. Scented geraniums can be easily grown in pots in the garden bed and come in many scents, including notes of lemon, chocolate, peppermint, rose, cinnamon, or apple. Rub the geranium leaves to release oils that will linger on your fingers all day.
TIP: When designing your sensory garden, also consider that wide paths and raised plant beds make the garden more accessible for those in wheelchairs. With sensory gardens, part of the pleasure is that they can be enjoyed by so many people in different ways.
Grow Pros to Know
Herb Creek Landscape Supplies: Carries a variety of greenery, including shrubs and trees; herbs and vegetables; palms and tropicals; and annuals and perennials. You’ll also find pottery, fountains, statuaries, landscape management products, and garden tools and supplies.
Savannah’s Secret Gardens: Features a wide variety of plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, exotics, and more. They also have wind chimes, bird houses, planting pots, and delivery/planting services.
TideWater Landscape Management: Provides a range of services, including landscaping designs, project installations, irrigation, landscape management, lawn care, brick and paver design, and aquatic care.
Victory Gardens: Offers landscape designs and installation, irrigation and water catchment, fire pits, hardscapes, lighting, and landscape maintenance.
