Designing A Sensory Garden | Jung Seed's Gardening Blog

Are you looking for ways to make your garden more accessible? Sensory gardens use plants that stimulate our five senses. These areas often have containers, raised beds, and other features that make it easy for everyone to enjoy the plants.

Sensory Garden Design Tips

Plants are the central part of a sensory garden, but other objects can be used too. Check out these design tips!

Sensory Garden sign located in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Focus on one sense or a mixture of senses.
Consider a theme for the garden (wildlife, fairies, and storybooks are popular themes for a sensory garden).
Grow plants that are safe to handle. If you want to add plants with thorns, like roses, place them toward the back of the garden.
Add tree stumps for seating. These can be scattered around the garden or arranged in a circle for groups.
Create a tunnel. A vine-covered structure is the perfect way for kids to explore the garden.
Have a system of paths to let people wander the garden.
Add a few birdhouses and feeders. Bee houses are another way to encourage pollinator activity and share the importance of insects.
Place unique containers in the garden. These are ideal for fairy gardens and small plants. Recycled materials make good planters too (I’ve used old golf shoes to grow succulents).
Water stimulates the senses. A small bird bath or fountain goes a long way to help wildlife and provide interest in the garden.
Build a fort using plants or manmade structures. My favorite example is a weeping mulberry tree, which has an open canopy on the inside, along with walls of branches to create a “room” under the tree.

Using Your Five Senses In The Garden

As you think about plants to grow, here are ideas for each of the five senses.

Two little girls looking at purple flowers in a park

Sight

With so many options for sight, we’ll focus on a few plants that stand out at different times of the year, starting with spring.

Spring

Allium: When you plant various bulbs, they can provide non-stop color from March to June. My favorite bulb is allium, which has firework-shaped blooms from late spring to early summer. With alliums, you can spray paint the flowers as they fade to extend their season of color.

Bleeding Heart: This classic perennial has unique heart-shaped blooms that quickly appear in spring. Giant bleeding hearts are popular, and you can extend the bloom season with dwarf bleeding hearts.

Brunnera: The combination of silver leaves and blue flowers makes brunnera one of my favorite perennials. While the flowers last a few weeks, the silver foliage remains until fall. Brunnera grows best in part to full shade.

Lilac: Every year, I fill a vase with lilac blooms and the whole room looks (and smells) like spring. Between the flowers and fragrance, this shrub has lots to offer. You can grow them as shrubs or as a small tree, giving you options for different spaces.

Crabapple: An excellent tree for small spaces. Over the years, breeders have created improved varieties to make these trees even more versatile and disease resistant.

Summer

Butterfly Plant: Few natives have the bright color of butterfly plant. And it attracts monarch butterflies!

Fern: These are worth growing for their unique texture and shade tolerance. Ghost ferns are almost ghostly, while cinnamon ferns have fertile fronds that look like cinnamon sticks.

Aralia: This tropical-looking perennial thrives in the coldest parts of the Midwest. At 3-5′ tall, it makes a wonderful specimen to brighten areas in partial shade. While it can tolerate drier soils, these plants grow larger in moist soil.

Fall/Winter

Birch: The peeling bark stands out all year, but the fall color adds another layer of beauty. At 30-40′, it’s a fast-growing specimen that is easy to grow.

Sumac: While the leaves are stunning in summer, they pop in fall. I’ve grown Tiger Eyes® on my patio, and the leaves have turned bright red and orange for several weeks in the fall.

Red Twig Dogwood: With bright red stems, these shrubs shine in winter. As the plants age, the older stems lose their color, so pruning 1/3 of the oldest stems each year will encourage new growth with redder stems.

Hispanic little girl with her eyes closed and holding a bouquet of fresh wildflowers to her nose, enjoying the sweet fragrance of the plants.

Smell

Herbs: These are among the best plants for enjoying fragrance. Each herb has a unique scent and is easy to grow while taking up minimal space.

Butterfly Bush: With honey-scented blooms and attractive colors, this shrub appeals to every sense. And the name is accurate since butterflies love this plant!

Oriental Lily: These lilies have a bit of everything. Massive flowers, fragrance, and color! Since their growth is narrow and upright, you can squeeze them in between other perennials.

Touch

Artmesia: These leaves are hard to resist with their soft, feathery texture. And the silver color is neat too!

Stachys (also called Lamb’s ear): Lamb’s ear is a tough perennial with velvet textured leaves that have a silvery color. It can be aggressive in moist soils but is easy to pull if it’s spreading too much.

Sempervivum (also called hens and chicks): With their firm texture and rosette leaves, hens and chicks are great for touching. They’re also hardy and can be planted in tiny crevices, like between stepping stones and in retaining walls.

A teacher with her two young students looking at ornamental grass growing at a park

Sound

Baptisia: This perennial is grown for the beautiful flowers, but the seedheads are worth mentioning. As the seedheads become dry, the seeds produce a rattling sound if you shake the seedheads.

Ornamental Grass: When a gentle breeze arrives, the leaves of grasses have a soothing sound. Some grasses remain small, while others grow from 2-7′ tall and wide, making them easy to use in the garden.

An excited young boy holding a large tomato

Taste

Tomato: With so many varieties, there’s a tomato for everyone. Some tomatoes also have unique-looking fruit, so they can be ornamental, too.

Chives: Most herbs are easy to grow, but chives may be the easiest. They emerge in early spring, allowing you to harvest them frequently. In early summer, the edible flowers open, adding beauty and a chance to be creative in the kitchen. When it comes to taste, any veggies, fruit, or herbs are right at home in a sensory garden.

Designing a Sensory Garden: A Guide to Engaging All Five Senses