Tracey Bool Garden Writer
  • Home
  • Photo Gallery
  • In The Garden
    • Permaculture >
      • Borage
      • Bringing in the Good Bugs
      • Building Beneficial Insect and Solitary Bee Accommodation in Your Garden
      • Comfrey My Garden Back to Life - Symphytum officinale
      • Climate Change Gardens
      • Growing Lucerne as a Green Manure Crop
      • Grown & Gathered by Matt & Lentil
      • Handy Link: ACT for Bees
      • Jerusalem Artichoke
      • Make Friends Using Companion Plants in Your Garden
      • Marigold
      • Pip: Australian Permaculture Magazine
      • Queensland Arrowroot
      • RetroSuburbia
      • The One Straw Revolution
      • The Weird and Wonderful World of Compost Brewing
      • Urban Homesteading Goulburn Mulwaree Library reference list
      • Yacon
    • Australian Native plants >
      • Bush Foods and a World of Wonder
      • Brachychiton populneus
      • Correa alba x pulchella 'Pink Pixie'
      • Correa pulchella 'Little Cate'
      • Correa pulchella ‘Ring A Ding Ding’
      • Eremophila racemosa
      • Grevillea iaspicula
      • Handy Link: Birds in Backyards
      • Lomatia myricoides
      • Lovely Locals
      • Lovely Winter Natives
      • Olive Pink: A Life in Flowers
      • Photographic Guide to Native Plants of the Australian Capital Territory
      • Plants of Goulburn Wetlands
      • Kembla Cherry Orchard: Seasonal Winter Maintenance
      • Poa labillardieri
      • Wahlenberia stricta
    • Fruit, Veggies & Herbs >
      • Flavour and More with Spaghetti Squash
      • Green Zebra Tomatoes
      • Grow. Food. Anywhere
      • Growing Blueberries
      • Growing Chillies in Pots
      • Growing, Eating and Enjoying Radish
      • Growing Garlic
      • Growing Passionfruit in Canberra
      • Leaf Curl and Codling Moth on Fruit Trees
      • Maintaining Blueberries
      • Mild Mannered Turnips
      • Preparing veggie seedlings for planting
      • Reaping the Harvest: Broad Beans
      • Pumpkin True Green Hubbard
      • Scented Geranium
      • Snowpea 'Oregon Sugar'
      • Summer Hardy Perennial Herbs
      • Summer Savory
      • The Seed Savers' Handbook
      • The Vegie Box
      • Tomato 'Honey Drop'
    • Garden Creation & Maintenance >
      • Australian Dreamscapes: The art of planting in gardens inspired by nature
      • Autumn in The Garden
      • Adhoc Gardening Tool Box
      • Bokashi Composting
      • Biofumigant Seed Crops
      • Canberra Soils
      • Carbon Storage in Urban Environments
      • Clay Seed Balls
      • Comfrey Tea
      • Composting
      • Cool Season Garden Bed Maintenance
      • Enliven the Senses with a Sensory Garden
      • Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden: Reference List
      • Gardening Down-Under
      • Green Manure Crops
      • Growing and Maintaining Windbreaks
      • Handy Organic Sprays
      • Handy Tip: Plant Gazebo
      • Hardwood Cuttings
      • In the Garden: Re-potting Your Plants
      • Let There Be Light
      • Local Invention: Downpipe Garden
      • Maintaining Citrus During Winter
      • One Plant or Many: Creating Harmony in the Garden
      • Photography in the Garden
      • Plant Selection and Design Considerations
      • Protect Your Garden from Jack Frost this Winter
      • Save Time, Water and Money with No-Dig Gardening
      • Summer Pruning Fruit Trees
      • The Art of Pruning
      • The Key to Successful Seed Germination
      • Tree Borers
      • Tree Selection with Christine Rampling
      • Winter Maintenance and Preparing for Spring
      • Yates Nature’s Way Citrus & Ornamental
    • On The Forage Trail >
      • Chickweed
      • Fat Hen
      • Foods of the Forest: Canada
      • Fruits of the Forest, On a Roadside Near You
      • Native Raspberry
      • On the Bush Food Trail: Annual Celery
      • On the Bush Food Trail: Warrigal Greens
      • Purple Salsify
      • Shepherd’s Purse
      • Sticky Weed
      • The Overlooked Bounty - Free Food
      • In Season Now: Purple Salsify
    • Ornamental Plants >
      • Arbutus unedo
      • Growing Ferns in Cool Climates
      • Growing Indoor Plants
      • Indispensable: Rosemary
      • Loropetalum chinense 'Burgundy'
      • Pineapple Sage
      • Plants of Nepal
      • Root Nurture Grow: The Essential Guide to Propagating and Sharing Houseplants
      • Taxodium distichum
    • People & Places >
      • A Garden for all Seasons with Deb & Adrian
      • Ainslie Urban Farm
      • An Interesting Mix at Majura Vineyard
      • Aquaponics and Natural Beekeeping in Suburbia with Karen Dahl
      • Be Enchanted at VizArchie
      • Botanical Artist Cheryl Hodges
      • Cacti and Succulent Extravaganza
      • Canberra City Farm
      • Canberra Environment Centre: A whole lot more
      • Community Gardens Abroad
      • Crookwell Seed Potatoes
      • Edna Walling
      • Good Life Permaculture
      • Gardens on the Move with Barbara
      • Gardens to Visit in Vancouver BC
      • Goulburn Community Garden
      • Goulburn Wetlands: A transformed space for the Community
      • Handy Resource for Eating Seasonally in Canberra
      • Historic Calthorpes' House
      • Historic Kentgrove Goulburn
      • Kembla Cherry Orchard Royalla NSW
      • Lanyon Homestead
      • Melliodora Permaculture Gardens
      • Parkesbourne Produce
      • National Bonsai and Penjing Collection NAC
      • Out and About in Namadgi
      • Permaculture Systems with Organic Gardener Christine
      • Plants, Bees, Veggies and a Preserving Wonderland
      • Revered Bonsai Artist Tony Tickle Visits Canberra National Arboretum
      • Richard and Pheap's Garden
      • Royal Sydney Botanic Gardens
      • Roogulli Garden
      • Shona's Garden
      • STEP into Canberra's Local Plant Space
      • Suburban Permaculture at its Best
      • The Crisp Galleries
      • The Honeysmith
      • Think Global Act Local with Global Worming
      • Veg Engenders Community on Roseglen Farm
      • Village Life in Nepal
      • Westbourne Woods Arboretum
      • World Class Homeleigh Grove Olives
      • Wynlen House Farm
    • Preserving the Harvest >
      • Preserving Rhubarb
      • Preserving the Harvest
      • Rosehip Tea and Cordial
  • Recipes
    • Baba Ganoush
    • Barbara's Passionfruit Muffins
    • Chocolate & Feijoa Muffins
    • Curly Fries Slinky Style
    • Double Choc & Raspberry Muffins
    • Growing and Eating Globe Artichokes
    • Luscious Berry Ice Cream
    • Mediterranean Roast Vegetables
    • Quince Jelly
    • Rhubarb Chutney
    • Seasonal Garden Salad with Bocconcini and Sourdough Bread
    • Spicy Apple Muffins
    • Tabouleh-inspired Barley Salad
    • Warm Tomato Salad
    • Spicy Pumpkin Soup
  • Fact Sheets
    • Building and Maintaining Insect Hotels in Your Garden
    • Gardening in Pots
    • Preserving the Harvest
    • Propagation: New Plants from Old
    • The Art of Pruning
    • The No-Dig Garden
    • The Wonderful World of Composting
    • Veggie Gardening Basics
  • Resources
  • About
  • Contact
            Enliven the senses with a sensory garden

​Gardens are a wonderful space which transform a place of residence into a welcomed escape from the grittiness of everyday life. Gardens are at the very least a visual space but can also appeal to the other senses including smell, touch, sound and taste. A sensory garden caters to these senses and creates an environment which cannot help but improve one’s state of mind and in many cases our physical health as well.
 
When designing your sensory garden, consider:
  • Access and useability – include paths throughout your garden and also places to sit and immerse yourself, in all seasons;
  • Not only the outlook you want to create from within the garden but also the view looking into it from your home;
  • Who will be visiting your garden – include wide paths and raised beds for the elderly or for those with physical disabilities; and places of interest for children such as flower, herb and veggie gardens, sandpits and fun places to explore;
  • The use of hardy long-lived plants which aren’t too onerous to maintain;
  • The use of plants with more than one function and the ability to entice multiple senses. For instance, a small growing eucalypt provides structure, wildlife habitat and a food source, visual appeal, and that of touch, sound and smell;
  • Utilising plant or insect pollinated plants as apposed to wind pollinated ones where allergies are a concern;
  • Including structural plants to give year-round interest, particularly in winter and summer when many plants aren’t looking their best;
  • Using plants which tempt the senses in all seasons;
  • Including trees, plants, flowers and features, such as bird baths, which are attractive to wildlife and beneficial insects;
  • Including features and structures which add to sensory appeal, such as gravel paths which crunch underfoot, and garden ornaments which create mood and are visually appealing.
 
The following are some sensory plants you may like to utilise:
Natives:
Philotheca (wax flower) – scented foliage, attractive flowers for people and beneficials alike;
Prostanthera (native mint bush) – most have scented foliage and lots of flowers;
Acacia (wattle) - fast growing shrubs with mostly bright yellow and often perfumed flowers in late winter and spring. They are also attractive to birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects.
 
Exotics:
  • Gardenia florida and G. radicans – perfumed flowers and glossy green leaves. Frost tolerant but best planted in spring so establishes before following winter;
  • Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine) – hardy climber with perfumed flowers. Can prune to restrict size and even grow as a ‘shrub’;
  • Lavender, particularly English and Italian varieties (French ones are cold sensitive).
 
Herbs and flowering annuals:
  • Marigold, zinnia, cosmos - bright flowers, self-seeding, attractive to beneficial insects;
  • Oregano and marjoram – scented foliage, attractive to beneficial insects;
  • Society garlic - insects and bees LOVE flowers from the onion family. Society garlic has pretty pink flowers and is hardy to dry conditions;
  • Rosemary – scented foliage, flowers attractive to birds and beneficials;
  • Culinary and ornamental sage (Salvia) – scented foliage, flowers are attractive to beneficial insects and pollinators. Select cold tolerant varieties.
Picture
Sensory gardens should include plants which are attractive to wildlife. The daily meanderings of birds are lovely to watch and hear.
Picture
Trees such as eucalypts make for good hugs.
Picture
Bright flowers with sweet perfumes enliven the senses and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.