Public examples that can provide inspiration include the William T. Bacon Sensory Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses at the Coastal Maine Botanic Garden in Boothbay.
At the Bacon, a large sycamore tree with mottled bark sits at the center, while a crabapple meadow bursts into a cloud of sweet-smelling pink and white in spring. At the Lerner, a labyrinth path made of smooth stones is a reflexologist’s delight. Weeping larches flank the entry, and vertical cage planters called “flower towers” are stocked by garden staff with a variety of flavorful plantings. Stone sinks offer water to cleanse the palate.
In California’s Napa and Sonoma valleys, there are wine sensory gardens; the Kendall Jackson Wine Estate has a pinot garden where visitors sample the strawberries, cherries and blackberries that inform the varietal’s flavor.
If you want to create your own sensory garden, consider two things: your area’s hardiness zone and which senses you want to focus on.
The former can be ascertained at www.garden.org; knowing your zone will help you choose plants that will thrive. If your regional public garden has a sensory exhibit, representatives there can help with sources and inspiration. And even if you find something you love that’s a bit tender for your zone, you can still plant it — just use a container so you can move it to a warmer, protected area when weather threatens.
As for the senses, think about what attracts you to a garden. Is it mostly the scents, or is it the visuals? Perhaps you’re moved by how elements in a garden sound. Or are you a tactile person who likes to touch every plant, rock and tree?
Make sure guests to your garden can linger and enjoy its sensory pleasures, says Margie Grace, a garden designer and owner of Grace Design Associates in Santa Barbara, Calif.
“There should be places to sit; places to slow down; places to feel the warmth of the sun, drink in the fragrant flowers, and hear the trickle of a stream or the music of wind chimes,” she says.
Sensory gardens are also a great way to involve kids in gardening, says Emily Jackson of the Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project in Asheville, N.C. Plant herbs such as mint and lemon that are easy, prolific and have familiar scents. Or think about the ingredients of kids’ favorite foods — the oregano, tomatoes, onions and basil that go into spaghetti sauce, for example.
Try growing some unusual things, too: carrots and potatoes in unusual colors, purple beans that turn green when you cook them, or watermelon radishes.
“Radishes are very easy to grow. Kids don’t seem to like them much except for these watermelon ones, which are colorful and less spicy,” says Jackson, who works with an initiative called “Growing Minds: Farm to School,” which helps schools build gardens.
Speak Your Mind