This article was written by Ronda Swaney and was featured in our August issue of Home By Design magazine. To visit the original Home By Design article, click here.

DESIGN TO ENGAGE ALL FIVE SENSES

Gardeners often choose plants for how they look—the color or the shape of their flowers and leaves. Gardens focused on appearance alone provide beauty and solace. But engaging all five senses—sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste—makes a garden more enticing and immersive.

Sensory gardens can make the experience more enjoyable for those with vision or hearing impairment. They are great teaching tools, helping children explore the natural world through all their senses. The benefits of gardening on mental and physical health are well documented for people of all ages. Exposure to sunshine and nature provides a mood boost, and the physical activity of creating and maintaining a garden improves strength, dexterity, and flexibility.

A sensory garden can also improve your health through specific senses. Fragrances trigger the limbic system (the part of the brain that helps us process memories and emotions). For example, lavender is said to prompt relaxation, while some studies find that a minty fragrance increases alertness. Sounds can also be soothing; birdsongs, trickling water fountains, or rustling leaves may provide a sense of peace for listeners. Babies touch soft things to soothe themselves; that soothing action can stay with us into adulthood, which makes touching soft, fuzzy plants a calming activity to soothe a busy mind. Lean on the following ideas to construct a more immersive garden and create a feast for the senses.

Sight.

Plants offer the most obvious appeal to sight. Group flowers by color by either pairing all warm or all cool hues, or blending a combination of hues. Mix up foliage as well, contrasting dark-green leaves with variegated, greenish-yellow or even silvery options. Plants aren’t the only sight-related elements that can be added to a garden. A reflecting pool, gazing balls, mirrors, and moon or keyhole gates that frame a view all add interesting visuals.

Smell.

Roses, lilies, gardenias, and honeysuckle are top picks for imbuing a garden with fragrance. Add herbs for savory, citrusy, and sweet smells too. Good options include mint, chives, rosemary, thyme, or lemon balm.

Sound.

Ornamental grasses rustle gently when blown by the wind. Water features provide soothing sounds. Pathway paving, such as gravel, river rock, or pea pebbles, crunch when walked on. Insect-attracting plants add the buzz of bees as they pollinate the garden and other surrounding flora. Wind chimes can also be a charming audible addition.

Touch.

Interior design focuses on texture. Velvet, jute, silk, and tweed, for example, each elicit different sensations and feelings when touched. The same is true for plants. The bark of trees provides a rough texture. The leaves of an Artemisia shrub are gentle to the touch. Fountain grass tufts also offer a pleasing texture. Succulents, like hens and chicks, provide a harder and sometimes pricklier surface. Hardscape features, like cedar fencing or galvanized steel planters, add to the mix of textures in the garden.

Taste.

Herbs, fruits, and vegetables provide the obvious options for appealing to taste in your garden. Edible flowers, such as pansies, roses, violets, and nasturtiums, offer another avenue to explore this sense. Use caution, however. Choose edible varieties and do not treat them with pesticides or other chemicals. Be sure they are washed before consumption.

Next Steps.

What steps can you take to create your own sensory garden? It may be easier than you think. First, take stock of what you have now. Inventory your garden and note the various senses that your plants, containers, and hardscape appeal to. That list will help identify missing senses you can expand on in your garden. Also consider the pathways through your garden. If your goal is to provide an immersive experience, pathways should lead visitors close to plants that offer a pleasing fragrance or a pleasant touch.

As you plan your garden, think through how it will change with the seasons and how you can make it a year-round experience. Choose plants that appeal to senses throughout the year. For example, a crape myrtle tree provides a beautiful sight during summer (its blooming season) and autumn (when many varieties sport leaves that turn deep, rich colors). In winter, the tree bark peels back, providing an interesting surface to touch, while also revealing new colors beneath the surface.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but natural beauty extends beyond what we see. A sensory garden helps deepen your experience of the natural world as you incorporate sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste into your landscaping plans.