Sensory Gardens
What is a sensory garden? The world is a sensory garden.
Our senses allow us to perceive & experience the world.
There are five traditional sensory modes: sight, smell, touch, taste & sound.
But there are other senses, less commonly talked of, just as powerful, if more subtle: the
haptic sense (awareness of our body in pace), gravity, temperature, space & enclosure.
All gardens simulate the senses, to a greater or lesser degree.
You can design your garden to enhance this sensory panoply (the quality & nature of its
spaces, boundaries, climate, materials, plants & fauna). If one of your senses is limited, you
can explore other ways of making the garden full of sensory pleasures & curiosities.
A sensory trail provides a similar but more a structured sensorial journey, compared to a
sensory garden. Along a sensory trail, different senses are sequentially stimulated &
aroused (often encouraging you to explore texture, listen acutely for sounds, experience
smells & a variety of spaces.
The following list, by no means complete, suggests ways of enhancing the sensory dynamics of your garden.
Visual attributes: Colour, contrast, luminosity, form, shape.
Colour can be used to create the mood and sense of spaciousness of your garden, as well as
for accent. Colour contrast (opposite on the colour wheel), colour harmony (close on the colour wheel), and colour temperature (cool or warm colours), colour intensity are all variables that can be explored.
Foliage colour: Colour is not the sole preserve of flowers. Plant foliage & bark are just as important.
Plants with interesting foliage colour include:
Acacias (dark green to glaucous)
Grasses (Poa, Festuca glauca, Pennesetum, Stipa).
Cordylines (red, variegated)
Bromeliads (many colours)
Deciduous species such as Melia, Acer
Shape & form
The shape of garden spaces (linear, geometric or curved & flowing) affect ones' movement
through space & apprehension of it. The shape of garden elements, structures (paths,
boundaries, garden beds) and plants, smooth or abrupt edges, minimal or curlicued, all
these can be played with.
Texture
Plants with interesting textures include:
Rough & smooth barked barked Eucalyptus
Lagerstroemia indica
Gordonia axillaris
Melaleuca
Succulents
Plants with interesting seed heads, pods, fruit
Casuarina
Banksia serrata
Banksia robur
Stachys lanata
Callistemon
Pelargonium
Mosses
Taste
There are many edible ornamental plants. Some obvious examples are vegetable, fruit &
herbs. These plants are highly decorative as well as productive.
Edible plants are rewarding to grow because they do not require too much care
And they are very decorative. Examples are
Beetroot
Lettuces
Rhubarb
Shallots
Silverbeat
Syzygium
Aromatic Plants
Flowers are not the only sources of garden scents. Many plants have aromatic foliage,
culinary herbs being just one example. Examples of plants with fragrant flowers and/or
foliage are given below:
Herbs for scent
Thymus
Majorum
Mentha
Nasturtium
Lavandula
Trees and shrubs for scent
Backhousia citriodora (lemon-scented leaves)
Darwinia citiodora (lemon-scented leaves)
Eriostemon myoporoides
Eucalyptus species e.g. E. citriodora
Gardenia sp.
Helioptrope arborescens
Leptospermum petersonii (lemon-scented leaves)
Murraya paniculata (fragrant flowers)
Pelargonium (many with scented foliage)
Plumeria rubra (fragrant flowers)
Prostanthera sp.
Thryptomeme saxicola
Tulbaghia
Viola odorata
Plants with Movement
Grasses
Pennisetum alopecuroides (soft plumes like foxtails)
Poa labilliardieri
Isolepis nodosa
Stipa
Themeda australis (Kangaroo Grass)
Perennials (tall, wispy varieties):
Cosmos (especially chocolate scented Cosmos atrosanguineus)
Salvia patens, S. uliginosa, many others
Interesting Climbers
Akebia quinata (chocolate scented flowers)
Trachelospermum jasminoides (scented)
Hoya carnosa (waxy pretty flowers)
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The William E. Carter School Sensory Garden Classroomby AHTAVideos3,128 views
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