Sensory experience

The experience of being outside and in the garden connects us to nature and is undoubtedly good for our wellbeing. One of the reasons may be because it is such a sensory experience, encouraging us to engage with ourselves and our immediate surroundings, rather than with the stresses of the outside world. Four of our five senses come to the fore when gardening, without any effort whatsoever. Sight, touch, scent and sound are there for the taking. The last, taste, is there as well, if we grow our own food or just want to nibble the end of a blade of grass as we go. Or maybe that’s just me.

All gardens are sensory, but some more so than others. The more senses we engage, the richer the experience. ‘Sensory gardens’ have become a thing, particularly in schools and other community spaces, such as care homes, hospitals, parks and retirement homes, where they can provide an educational, stimulating or calming experience to promote relaxation and good mental health. These gardens can also be used for therapeutic purposes, particularly for people with sensory impairments, such as blindness or deafness.

When designing a garden, it’s well worth thinking about how our senses will engage with the space, as this brings extra pleasure, sometimes on a subconscious level. Many of my clients will ask for scented plants, particularly near a seating area, but ones that cry out to be touched and stroked encourage a further interaction, allowing us to connect more fully with the space. When choosing plants, think about texture. Lamb’s ears, Stachys byzantina, are especially loved by children with their silk-fur leaves. I can’t walk past certain grasses without instinctively reaching out to touch their fluffy seedheads or rake my fingers through the leaves. Even a clipped box hedge calls me to run a hand along the top and feel its springiness. Trees with shiny bark, such as Tibetan cherry, with its polished rings, or the gnarly-ness of a crab apple trunk can be experienced through our fingertips. Sometimes we need to wear gloves in the garden, to protect from thorns and brambles for example, but mostly I prefer to garden without gloves on so that I can feel as I go.

Sound comes to a garden without deliberate action, birdsong for example, bees buzzing, or leaves rustling in the wind. But we can think about how to bring in more of these natural sounds with the plants we choose. Some flowers are particularly attractive to bees, such as lavender, echinacea, rudbeckia, Liatris spicata and honeysuckle. Trees and hedges provide safe spots for birds to perch. Choose plants that rustle in the breeze such as tall grasses, and airy trees such as silver birch.

We can also bring in other chosen sounds to our garden, such as a water feature for the gentle and relaxing flow of running water, or wind chimes. Although keep in mind that the latter have been known to annoy neighbours, so careful positioning could be key as not everyone enjoys their musical tinkling. Scrunching along a gravel path can also be surprisingly satisfying, or the soft thud of feet on grass.

Scent is one of the most powerful stimulators of our senses, as it goes straight to the limbic system, the parts of the brain used for emotions and memory. The smell of tomato plants takes me straight back to my grandparents’ humid greenhouse, for example. Likewise the thick leaves of pelargoniums. Think about including plants that will provide year-round fragrance, not just summer flowers. Sarcococca, also known as Christmas box, is one of my favourites for winter fragrances, along with witch hazel and wintersweet.

Throughout summer there is plenty to choose from when it comes to fragrance. Roses, lavender, jasmine and honeysuckle spring immediately to mind, but also try Cosmos atrosanguineus for its chocolatey flowers, or the towering white Nicotiana sylvestris (tobacco plant) for late-summer evening scent. Indulge your passion for fragrance more fully by creating a herb garden, and be sure to include somewhere to sit where you can be surrounded by the leaves and flowers. A herb garden satisfies taste, another of our senses, and there’s nothing nicer than picking a few fresh leaves of basil, mint or a sprig of rosemary to add to a meal.

Sight is one of the most obvious senses that we use when assessing a garden, and is probably the most straightforward to analyse. How a garden looks is probably the first thing we notice. The colours, the sense of order, the design, the materials, and the mix of hard and soft landscaping, are all instantly processed when we take in the view, building a picture of the type of garden and how the space is used. Colours, like fragrance, can also affect our emotions.

Greens and whites evoke calm and tranquillity, while hot, vibrant reds and oranges are much more energising. Sight is also the sense that we use when we enjoy our gardens from indoors. Consider the view from the kitchen window or main living space for example, as this may be where you spend the most time looking at the garden, or perhaps from an office if you’re working from home. So, now that summer is arriving, take the time to sit back and enjoy the sensory experience that a garden offers, and surround yourself with scent, sound, texture and colour. n

• ellyswellies.co.uk

Plant of the Month: Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima)

Stipa tenuissima, commonly known as Mexican feather grass or ponytails, is a popular ornamental grass valued for its graceful appearance and soft texture. It has silvery-green leaves and feathery pale-blonde seedheads that sway in the breeze, and can be used in a variety of garden styles, from contemporary to cottage gardens. Dot it around the border for accents and breathing space between the flowers, and to help unify an existing scheme, or en masse to create flowing swathes. It also works well in gravel gardens or in a naturalistic or prairie-style border. This grass is easy to care for, drought-tolerant and unfussy about soil type, although it might struggle on very heavy clays as it doesn’t like wet roots in winter. It prefers a sunny spot, but will also grow in shade. Neat and compact, it’s good for smaller gardens and containers, and reaches around 60cm in height.