Making Sense Of It All
Hello there. I hope you’re having a good Easter holiday.
Nearly a year ago I wrote a posting entitled “The Sensory Garden” and it’s one of my most popular posts. So I thought I’d write another posting about how our gardens can help soothe, stimulate and perhaps even help heal our senses.
When I am designing gardens, I’m constantly thinking of the fact of making and creating the garden as an area to be a ’stress free zone’; a place where a person can chill out and enjoy nature.
In this fast moving stressful life of today the garden can be a real sanctuary, and your own little bit of oasis to escape to.
Believe it or not the garden can actually promote healing, it is a proven fact that hospital patients recover more quickly when they have a view of a garden.
Plants can give us so much pleasure and can bring enjoyment and delight to our five senses. Fresh herbs from the garden add wonderful natural flavours to our taste buds together with the delight of enjoying fresh home-grown fruit and vegetables. The joy of colour in the garden can be uplifting and therapeutically.
Soothing sounds can be added to the garden like the refreshing sounds of running water or the gentle tinkling sound of a small wind chime. Nature’s sound of the wind blowing through the leaves of trees and shrubs can be claiming together with the gentle rustling sound of Bamboos and grasses. Creating sound within the garden can be really soothing and play a very useful part in distracting us from the outside noises of city life.
There are plants which are a joy to touch, various textures can surprise and delight us, like woolly soft leaves of the Stachys byzantina also known as Bunnies’ Ears or Lamb’s Tongue never fails to stop me to touch it. Also joy of rubbing the foliage of certain plants so as they release their aromatic scent and my favourite is the Phlomis fruticosa that has soft downy fruity scented leaves.
Scent plays important part in a garden as it can stimulate memory and enhance our moods. There are so many wonderfully perfumed flowers like the richly fragrant Jasminum officinale or the Lonicera japonica, Honeysuckle, plant these next to a patio or seating area so you can enjoy the wafts of scents.
So chill out and enjoy awakening your five senses to the garden.
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Judy, I couldn’t agree with you more about gardens being a haven from the stresses of the world. I think this may be one reason that people who garden seem to be in their own little world - one that is pleasant, peaceful, and soothing - when working in or relaxing in their gardens.
Jan Always Growing
Hi there Jan.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of a television gardener we have over on this side of the pond by the name of Monty Don.
Anyway, he’s got a series at the moment entitled “Around The World In 80 Gardens” and he came out with a quote in his last episode along the lines of…
“… half of gardening is an excuse for grown-ups to go out and play…”
I thought that was so true as well.
Yes, I totally agree with you about being in “their own little world…” or being in “the zone”…
Thank you so much for your comment Jan and do stay in touch.
Judy