Come to Your Senses

Above: Colourful blooms

Above: ...with plenty of scent

Above: ...will give pleasure to your senses

It is high summer, the peak time for spending time in the garden, and we expect to see plenty of colour in the flower borders. However, it is possible to gain far more than just visual delight from our plants. With a little care and thought when planning a border it is possible to stimulate all our senses, thus multiplying the pleasures gained time and time over.

When creating a sensory garden, consider touch, sound, colour and scent. Some plants have interesting aromatic foliage that just asks to be stroked. Think of aniseed-scented feathery fennel or soft, downy lavender - Helichrysum italicum has fine silvery but pungent foliage, hence the name ‘curry plant’. Other classic plants are the furry stachys lanata (lamb’s ears), and ornamental grasses. When in flower, the delicate, feathery seed heads of Stipa tenuissim and S arundinacea are irresistible.

Memories can be aroused by certain scents. As you brush against box or flowering currant, the scent is admittedly rather like a tomcat, but for many of us that is the signal to be transported back to hot, sunny afternoons in the gardens of our childhood. For me, smell of annual alyssum immediately takes me back to the venue of my childhood holidays.

The heady scent of roses, lilies and honeysuckle are classic, but the strange bubble-gum scent of philadelphus add an interesting note. Philadelpus ‘Belle Etoile’ is a good compact form, but the double flowers of  P. ‘Manteau D’Hermine’ last longer. Peppery lupins and phlox, spicy wallflowers, dianthus and stock, and the delicate, sweet scent of sweet peas and lilac all tempt you to stop and plunge your nose into the blooms.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodor) has the best lemon-scented foliage of any plant, and no garden would be complete without the pungency of mint. So many of these aromatic plants are, in fact, herbs; think of the astringent aroma of thyme or the apple-like scent of chamomile, both ideal to plant amongst paving stones or in gravel paths.

Sound in the garden can be created in many ways. The breeze through aspen trees and the swish of bamboos are reminiscent of water. Water in the garden, whether in the form of a stream, fountain, or bubble feature, will provide gentle, soothing trickling sounds. The trick is to get the flow of water just right – too fierce and you could create a rather worrying torrent. Wind chimes should be gentle, too, and should be sited away from neighbouring properties lest they cause irritation.

Best of all, of course, is the sound of birds in a garden, so do all you can to encourage them to visit and ideally, take up residence.

Colour plays an important role in the garden and can set the mood. If part of your garden is to act as a tranquil haven, then calming blues and whites with lots of soft-green foliage will suit. An exciting and stimulating atmosphere will be created by the vibrancy of oranges, reds and purples. Plan for all-year-round colour with interesting foliage, and exciting leaf-colour changes in autumn from your trees and climbers. Acers are perfect; many will undergo three colour changes in a year. The climbers Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus Henryana) and Boston ivy (P Tricuspidata) are unsurpassable for autumn colour. Their foliage becomes a fiery, brilliant red changing to purple. Coloured winter stems, such as those of various willows and dogwoods, keep the display going until the yellow flowers and pink blossom of spring burst on the scene, and now, in July, we see our gardens in their finest, most colourful attire.