Do you want to grow a love of nature within your children?
One way to make this possible is to make it fun by creating a sensory garden. What kid doesn’t like to be told that they can eat the plant leaf? And if there are edible berries growing, happy memories are sure to be made!
Sensory gardens can cater to all five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Or they can be designed to excite just one sense.
Here are some sensory considerations when creating a safe place to explore, have fun, find peace, and cultivate curiosity.
SIGHT
The diversity of plants offers us a dazzling array of colors, patterns, and textures, which is wonderful but can feel challenging to know where to start when creating any thoughtful garden planting.
So, let’s carefully consider the two most common ways a plant can be visually interesting, then you can decide how you’d like to arrange them.
Color Arrangement
What will stand out to you? Variegated foliage, multi-color flowers, re-blooming flowers?
Give plants that feature bold color a chance to really shine by planting them amongst flowers and foliage with just one color.
For the rebloomers, know that masses of flowers will always draw the eye, like the mass planting of pink flowering summer blooming Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus).
Limit your plant selection to just one or two variegated or two-toned plants, as this will keep the garden from looking busy. Unless busy is your thing, in which case: go for it!
Plants that Pop:
Trees & Shrubs:
- ‘Kaleidoscope’ Abelia
- ‘Magic Carpet’ Spiraea
- ‘Pinky winky’ Hydrangea paniculata
- Rose of Sharon
- ‘Summer Crush’ Hydrangea
- ‘Velveteeny Smokebush’ Cotinus
Perennial:
Vegetable, Herb or Annuals:
Texture
In addition to physical touch, visual texture is another characteristic of plants. Pairing contrasting textures helps break up the garden and invites the viewer’s eyes to travel over the landscape.
Types of textures:
- Fine – very small leaves or flowers
- Medium – average sized leaves or flowers
- Coarse – large leaves or flowers
Plants with Visual Texture:
Trees & Shrubs:
Perennials:
Vegetable, Herb or Annuals:
SCENT
Scent is a large part of our memory, for better or sometimes worse. The fragrance of a lovely garden rose or even a classic, sour boxwood can transport us to days we’d love to relive. But in some ways, we can relive our loving memories! We can plant moments of time in the garden, memories of our loved ones, and memories we’re just about to create.
The perfect way to introduce fragrance into an immersive, intentional garden is to choose plants that have a big bloom display, and plants that rebloom throughout the season. If possible, put these plants in a high traffic location, like next to a porch, bench, window or walkway so their scent can be enjoyed as frequently as possible.
Tree:
Shrubs:
- Rose
- Fothergilla
- Buddleia
- Gardenia
- Clethra
- Koreanspice viburnum
- Lilac
- Witch hazel
- Honeysuckle
- Jasmine
Perennials:
Vegetable, Herb or Annuals:
TASTE
Eating fresh fruits from the garden is one of the most enchanting experiences. However, if it’s a kid-friendly sensory garden you’re going for, then some caution should be considered if there are other plants in the area that are “off limits”.
So, before you plant anything, you may want to remove or protect anything that could be a potential danger to curious visitors. Read the helpful article by Proven Winners on gardening with children, and also check out their list of toxic plants to avoid.
Trees & Shrubs:
- Aronia – berries
- Blueberry – berries
- Currant – berries
- Camellia sinensis – leaves
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) – berries
- Raspberry – berries
Perennials:
- Strawberry – berries
- Monarda – leaves and flowers
Vegetable, Herb, or Annuals:
- Stevia – leaves
- Mint – leaves
- Nasturtium – flowers
- Marigold – flower
- Swiss chard – leaves
- Tomatoes – fruit
- Chives – flowers and leaves
TOUCH
Most of the time, a leaf just looks like a leaf until you touch it. It turns out that plants offer a variety of textures for fingers to caress, cheeks to rub against, and even for toes to explore.
There are two types of leaf textures: glabrous and pubescent. Glabrous leaves don’t have hair and can range from feeling like leather to being as shiny and smooth as a subway tile. Pubescent leaves always have hair and can range from having a rough, bristle-like feeling to teddy bear softness.
Flower petals can also offer textural interest. Petals can generally be trusted to be pleasant, either soft like velvet when fresh or paper-like when dried.
Trees & Shrubs:
- River Birch
- Clematis – blooms
- False cypress
- Juniper
Perennials:
- Stachys
- Echinacea
- Yarrow
- Irish moss
- Calamagrostis – seed heads
Vegetable, Herb or Annuals:
SOUND
Sounds experienced in the garden could be seed pods that rattle in the breeze, grass reeds rustling, or the chattering of birds who were lured there by the plants. Sound can be created in a few different ways. The sound of running water from a pond or fountain. Bees buzzing while collecting nectar from the flowers of chives.
Think outside the box on this one!
Trees & Shrubs:
- Large shade trees: Maples, Oaks, Quaking Aspen
- Evergreen huckleberry
Perennials:
Vegetable, Herb or Annuals:
From ‘Proven Winners Gardening Simplified – Sensory Gardens’