Sensory Garden Design Tips

Gardens are by nature a delight to the senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. Everyone finds all of their senses naturally heightened or stimulated when surrounded by greenery and flowers. Designing a garden to purposely increase and enhance these kinds of experiences brings added measures of delight. Keep the following pointers in mind when designing a garden lay out and selecting plants and it will be sure to excite and please all five senses!

Using the Sense of Sight in the Garden

It goes without saying that a garden should be beautiful. Flowers and foliage combine naturally to present a pleasant sight. Seasonal changes also offer a visual display to help keep the viewer’s interest. In summer, butterflies in particular bring extra excitement to the flowering delights of the garden. In winter, birds will add movement to the quieter visual scene.

Include a Variety of Sounds in the Garden Plan

Ornamental grasses are a wonderful way to bring both soothing sounds of swishing foliage as well as a lovely dance-like swaying movement to the garden. In autumn, leaves crunching underfoot provide a reminder that nature is never static. Adding a fountain with a gentle splash or perhaps a waterfall with roaring power brings the magical sound of moving water to the garden.

Stimulate the Sense of Smell with Flowers and Foliage

Fragrant plants, with their unique scents permeating the air or perhaps released when touched, bring an often neglected level of enjoyment to the garden. Flowers are the most common source of garden perfumes, but also consider the fragrance of foliage. Herbs such as thyme and rosemary release a wonderful perfume when stepped on or gently pinched, and of course the scented geraniums are marvelous when brushed against, releasing a lingering essence. Roses are a classic garden scent, ranging from musky to fruity to spicy to sweet. Many modern hybrids have flowers with little scent, so select plants noted for their fragrance whenever possible.

Reach Out and Touch Your Plants

Foliage and flowers both offer an opportunity to experience the sense of touch in the garden. For example, some flowers are velvety soft and smooth and some are waxy, some have stems that are a bit prickly, and still others take on unique papery forms or develop intricate seed pods as they age and dry. Foliage may be smooth and sheer, silky or downy, felted, or puckered like seersucker. Look at each plant as an individual and discover its unique qualities.

Beyond Fruit and Vegetables: Enjoy the Sense of Taste in the Sensory Garden

Edible flowers are a popular garden conceit bringing a whole new way to enjoy the flower bed. Use edible flowers only when still garden-fresh, be sure they are pesticide free, and rinse them clean of dust or debris. Who has not delighted in the pungent sweetness of honeysuckle blossom or the delightful surprise of a fried squash blossom. Chive blooms may be tossed on salads to add a touch of onion scent and flavor, violets may be candied, lavender flowers may be added to cookies. Toss a daylily bloom atop a salad and see the plate come alive – visually and to your taste buds. And don’t forget to save rose hips for tea next winter.

Design for All Five Senses to Enjoy the Garden

There are so many different ways to enjoy the garden using all five of our senses. Once the gardener begins to learn about the flowers as multi-sensory experiences, each plant takes on its own character and enriches the garden experience in its own unique way. Bring more joy to your flower gardening and improve your garden design by keeping the senses in mind when you plan your landscape, flower bed or border.

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