A sensory garden is a garden that has a collection of plants that are appealing to one or more of the five senses; sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. Sensory gardens should be accessible for all people to enjoy - disabled and non-disabled. Sensory gardens are typically geared towards young children, but are enjoyed by people of all ages.
What's in a sensory garden?
Sensory gardens include features, surfaces, objects and plants that stimulate our senses through touch, sight, scent, taste and hearing. They are places that can be designed with many different purposes in mind.
What is a sensory garden used for?
The sensory gardens improve physical fitness, health, mood and cognition. Gardening and plant care help children develop gross and fine motor skills. Time outdoors, breathing fresh air, and being exposed to sunlight are extremely beneficial to the children's overall physical health.
What are sensory plants?
Sensory plants are those with marked visual, textural, fragrant qualities, and those that provide unique sounds and tastes.
What is sensory garden for kids?
A sensory garden is an outdoor space designed specifically to amplify all five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. A typical garden can stimulate our senses too, but a sensory garden uses plants and hardscaping to create an immersive experience. To learn more, read our article on what a sensory garden is.
How do you start a sensory garden?
Start with a well thought out plan and be sure to accommodate space for the mature size of the plants you have chosen. Incorporate hardscape elements such as benches, paths, water fountains, bird feeders, and garden art into the sensory space for an added effect.
How do you create a therapy garden?
How to Create a Healing GardenEstablish Goals. There are two types of healing gardens: restorative and enabling. ... Hardscape. Start with the hardscape; think of the garden as an outdoor room. ... Incorporate Water, Sound, and Lighting. ... Attract Wildlife. ... Provide Seating. ... Make Focal Points. ... Choose Plants.
How do you make a sensory garden for autism?
Soundproof the garden by building a fence and planting a few noise-blocking trees and shrubs. Invest in a few pieces of autism-friendly playground equipment for your new outdoor space. Fill your garden with plants that appeal to all five senses, including sunflowers, bamboo, silver sage, and sweet pea.
How do you make a dementia friendly garden?
Dementia friendly gardens are safe spaces that are often designed to appeal to the senses....You may want to include:Colourful plants that flower at different times of the year.Fragrant plants - a herb area is a good idea.Trickling water features.Wind chimes.
What is a sensory garden autism?
What is a sensory garden? A regular garden may stimulate your senses, but a sensory garden is a carefully designed, immersive space that makes sure to hit sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.
What is a sensory garden autism?
What is a sensory garden? A regular garden may stimulate your senses, but a sensory garden is a carefully designed, immersive space that makes sure to hit sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.
What do sensory gardens decrease?
Data revealed positive trends following the sensory garden interventions on decreasing agitation and improving quality of life.
How do you make a sensory garden for autism?
Soundproof the garden by building a fence and planting a few noise-blocking trees and shrubs. Invest in a few pieces of autism-friendly playground equipment for your new outdoor space. Fill your garden with plants that appeal to all five senses, including sunflowers, bamboo, silver sage, and sweet pea.
Why would working in gardens stimulate sensory exploration?
While in the garden, they are encouraged to touch, smell, taste, and generally interact with the environment around them. In people with dementia, sensory gardens can help keep them calm and interested, and these gardens also help to keep all of one's senses aroused.
What is sensory garden?
Sensory gardens are suitable for small or large spaces. They may be designed for just one sense, such as a fragrance garden, or for all five senses. The garden should encourage the child's interaction with the environment. Here are some factors to consider:
Why are sensory gardens important?
Sensory gardens are perfect for young children, plus they promote health and enjoyment of nature for all ages. Read on for suggestions of how to create a garden that appeals to all five senses.
What plants are good for tactile stimuli?
Add smooth stones to your sensory garden to invite touch. The first plant that comes to mind for tactile stimuli is lambs' ear ( Stachys byzantine) with its fuzzy, fury leaves. Yarrow ( Achillea millefolium) is another good example for its stiff flowers and soft foliage. Feather reed grass ( Calamagrostis x acutiflora), coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea ), borage ( Borago officinalis ), Irish moss ( Chondrus crispus ), and cockscomb ( Celosia) are all appealing to touch.
What are the factors to consider when hardscaping a garden?
Hardscaping encompasses the non-living parts of the garden. You may include sitting, standing, and climbing areas with different textures to see and touch.
What are the colors that stimulate the sense of sight?
Red, orange, and yellow are warm colors that promote activity. Cool colors such as blue, purple, and white encourage tranquility. Create a balance between energizing colors and restful, ...
What colors are good for tranquility?
Cool colors such as blue, purple, and white encourage tranquility. Create a balance between energizing colors and restful, soft colors to avoid over stimulation. Accessories like gazing balls, mirrors, and sculpture add to the visual effect.
What is the best way to choose plants?
When choosing plants make sure they will do well in your growing conditions whether sun or shade, poor or good drainage, clay or another type of soil. Select plants that are hardy, durable, and of various heights, colors, textures, and scents.
What is sensory garden?
For people living with disabilities, poor eyesight or dementia a sensory garden can also be a safe and tactile environment to enjoy touching, hearing, smelling, seeing - tasting even - the plants and natural materials.
What are some sensory garden materials?
Shapes are also important in a sensory garden, materials like crazy paving and rough cut flags. The distinctive shape of some trees, flowers such as the daisy and poppy, the varied fruits on fruit trees. Movement catches the eye too, so maybe add trees such as Willow that wave in the wind.
What will you get out of creating a sensory garden at home?
Sensory gardens can also be therapeutic, Helping reduce stress and lowering blood pressure by offering a lovely place to escape to, take time-out and simply relax.
How many senses are there in a sensory garden?
These are the materials and plants you can use to stimulate the five senses in your own sensory garden.
Why do we need a garden for children with autism?
A garden can present the perfect opportunity for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and special needs to learn, play and strengthen body and mind.
Can you have a sensory garden in a small garden?
Limited space need not be a barrier to creating a Sensory garden. Our senses can be stimulated in a small garden, patio, container even a pathway .
Is a sensory garden good for dementia?
With a few design changes a sensory garden can be a good place for people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia too.
What is a sensory garden?
A sensory garden is a space with a principle focus on sensory experience. All landscapes are sensory but some are more sensory than others. It's the concentration of experiences that defines a sensory garden or trail.
How does sensory design affect the garden?
With imaginative sensory design and sensitive attention to detail, a garden becomes a sensory feast.
How will the garden be maintained?
It is important to consider how your project will be cared for and it will impact on the design - there is no point in creating a garden that requires a lot of regular maintenance work if this isn't going to possible.
What type of space do you need?
Through imaginative design it is easy to create landscapes that offer a wide range of sensory experiences, either as sensory-filled destinations in their own right, or as extra highlights to a more general space.
What is the most expensive part of a garden project?
Construction, planting and furnishing of the garden will be the most costly part of the project. If funds are limited you might decide to phase the development, or to use volunteers to help reduce overall costs. It is crucial to have good project management by someone with experience of construction so you can make sure the work is of high standard and well organised.
How will you resource the initial development of ideas, plans and designs?
How will you resource the initial development of ideas, plans and designs? This is likely to include fees for a professional designer, cost of site surveys and production of designs. If you need to fundraise for building the space, it will help to show funders compelling designs that show the quality of your ideas, so investing in plans and creative ways to demonstrate your ideas (sketches, models, photos etc.) at this stage is a good idea.
When will people want to use the outdoor space?
When will people want to use the outdoor space? Think seasonally, weekly and time of day - if evenings are an option then plan to include lighting and ways of people keeping warm (blankets, fires, shelter).
What is sensory garden?
A sensory garden is a self-contained garden area that allows visitors to enjoy a wide variety of sensory experiences. Sensory gardens are designed to provide opportunities to stimulate the senses, both individually and in combination, in ways that users may not usually encounter. Sensory gardens have a wide range of educational ...
What are some examples of sensory gardens?
Design characteristics may include water features that produces soothing sounds, pick-and-sniff herb and flower beds, and benches with different types of sand or pebbles to sink their feet into. For example, in a sensory garden located in Port Macquarie, Australia, one person enjoys sinking his toes into the sand as it elicits memories of Australia for him, while the gravel reminds him of Scotland where he was born which he does not enjoy as much. Other potential benefits include a calming and relaxing place providing an easy and safe way to exercise with feelings of independence.
How do sensory gardens help dementia?
Sensory or therapeutic gardens can be used to help reduce the symptoms of dementia without the use of drugs through stimulation of the senses, exercising various parts of the brain. Sensory gardens may elicit positive emotions in people living with dementia, and help improve their quality of life.
Why are sensory gardens important?
Sensory gardens usually have an enhanced infrastructure to permit wheelchair access and meet other accessibility concerns; the design and layout provides a stimulating journey through the senses, heightening awareness, and bringing positive learning experiences .
Where is the sensory garden in Bremen?
Entrance to a sensory garden in Bremen. The 'Blind People's Garden' ( Blindengarten) in Knoops Park is designed to allow people with visual impairments to find their way around the garden and experience its features without assistance.
What are the components of sound?
This includes plants like bamboo, grasses, trees, as well as non-living elements like bells and wind chimes. Water features and birds are also common sound components. Less common sound components include things like hand instruments (such as drums), echo spaces, and chiming stepping stones.
Where is the Blindengarten?
The Blindengarten in the Bad Homburg Spa Park ( Kurpark) in Germany is a "smell and touch" garden comprising eight thematically-planted raised beds (culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, roses, grasses, etc) arranged around a central fountain that can provide acoustic orientation for blind and visually-impaired people.
What should a sensory garden include?
Many sensory gardens are just walks or pathways, with low scented plants such as herbs in between stepping stones. A winding route works well as it invites you to slow down and look around.
How do you make a small sensory garden?
If you want to create a small or DIY sensory garden, then it is best to plan zones that concentrate on different senses. You could create a listening corner by placing a seat next to a soothing water feature, accompanied by the gentle buzz of insects. Or plant a raised garden bed or containers with herbs, allowing easy access to rub or sniff their aromatic leaves and flowers. To activate the sense of touch, think about textures underfoot, from cool grass to crunchy gravel.
What plants are good for perfume?
'For larger gardens, my top choice is Cercidiphyllum japonicum (katsura tree), which gives off an incredible candyfloss scent in autumn,' says Catherine Cutler. 'Other great plants for a perfume garden include mock orange, a shrub with strongly fragrant flowers, and fun, more unusual herbs such as apple mint, pineapple sage and curry plant.
What are some good plants to grow in a sensory garden?
For example, she says, rosemary can ease fatigue and help you focus; and lavender can help induce sleep and ease depression, making these excellent plants to choose for a sensory garden. 2.
How to encourage people to explore sensory gardens?
To encourage people to explore your sensory garden with their hands, place trees within reach of paths and seats so the bark can be easily stroked. Some plants simply beg to be touched, such as Stachys byzantine (lamb’s ears), the leaves of which are soft like felt.
Why are sensory gardens important?
While sensory gardens are for everyone, they are particularly beneficial to children, and those who are disabled or suffering with mental health problems.
What is a water feature in a garden?
A water feature, such as a small fountain or spout, encourages people to dip their hands or feet in, and children to splash and play.
How to create a sensory garden?
It is important to create an environment that is stimulating, interactive and accessible for a wide variety of people of all abilities while creating a sensory garden. Some things to consider include: 1 Think about your users, as there will be people of different ages and abilities in the garden so the equipment and landscape needs to be accommodating and safe so as not to stop anyone enjoying themselves 2 Make your journey round the sensory garden interesting – winding pathways are far more exciting than a straight path from a to b! However make it wide enough and easy enough for any users in wheelchairs or using other walking aids to get around it 3 Pick plants and flowers that have interesting colors and smells, in order to make the environment more attractive and appealing (don’t go for anything that will be harmful to inquisitive guests) 4 Choose sensory equipment that is fun, engaging and combines sensory stimulation with helpful developmental benefits. There are a whole host of options available, and different environments and needs will be suited to different equipment. For example some larger areas can accommodate bigger pieces of equipment and some people may be suited to more active equipment than others. 5 Appeal to younger generations with activities such as a sand pit to allow them to use their energy and creativity 6 Have seating in your sensory garden – this is so that those who have limited mobility or less stamina for one reason or another can still sit and
What are the Benefits of a Sensory Garden?
Those with differing sensory disorders can all take different positives from the sensory garden as well as those without sensory conditions – the benefit being they are all in one place and are combinations and individual sensations that they wouldn’t normally experience.
What is a sensory garden?
Have you ever heard the term “sensory garden?” A sensory garden is an outdoor garden that creates a special sensory experience. Sensory gardens often consider the 8 different senses. People of any age who experience sensory sensitivity enjoy experiences that are calming. And people, in general, often enjoy sensory gardens for their relaxing effect.
What plants are scented in a garden?
Within the garden, there are scented plants in special sections like flowering dogwood and wild rugosa roses on the perimeter. This adds some scents to the Scent and Sensitivity Garden. Fresh and floral scents can help to produce a calming effect. Additionally, the plants chosen are not heavily fragrant.
Why is a quiet area important in a garden?
By providing a quiet area for guests to comfortably relax, it increases the accessibility of the garden. And makes it a more inclusive experience. Additionally, this is helpful for those with mobility impairments. It provides the option to add breaks when standing and walking.
Why are textured plants important?
In addition, the textured plants in the garden are calming. This is especially important for people with sensory sensitivity. The textured surfaces is helpful for children in particular to explore their senses through touch and feel.
Can autism cause sensory overload?
If you have a child with a sensory processing disorder, sensory sensitivities, or autism, it may be hard to find experiences that are sensory-friendly. Many adults also find environments too busy, noisy and bright. This can lead to sensory overload and feeling anxious or stressed. Therefore, it is helpful to find activities and environments ...
