I visited the Burren Perfumery today with my family. They have a beautiful little herb garden, which you can wander through. The little man, 4, was very excited about our ‘adventure’. This is a sensory garden, with lots of colours, scents, surfaces, sounds and moods, which you can get a feeling for in the photos. It got me thinking again about sensory gardens. Many gardens awaken the senses without any special thought being put in to it, especially gardens rich in colour, textures, fragrance etc. However if your garden consists of a lawn surrounded by evergreen or flowering shrubs, you might think about adding to it and think about it in terms of its sensory interest.
Looking and seeing
- colour (flowers, foliage, bark, berries, mosses)
- shape (flowers, leaves, fruits, stems, paving, containers)
- movement (trees, grasses, water, chimes)
- contrast and patterns
Listening and hearing
- natural sounds (leaves, birds, water)
- activated sounds (fountain, chimes, sound sculptures)
Feeling and touching
- surfaces (rough, smooth)
- plants (hairy, bumpy, spiky)
- trees and grasses
- temperature (water, walls)
Smell
- scents that fill the air (roses, honeysuckle)
- intimate scents (violet, primrose, daffodils)
- activated scent (the crushed leaves of herbs)
Taste
- fruits trees and fruit bushes
- herbs
- vegetables
Listening and hearing
- natural sounds (leaves, birds, water)
- activated sounds (fountain, chimes, sound sculptures)
Orientation, balance and gravity
- surfaces (gravel, stone slabs, grass)
- sense of mystery (mazes, hidey holes, windows through to other parts of the garden)
- changes of levels (steps, slopes, low walls)
Moods
- quiet, romantic, vibrant, busy
The Burren perfumery is worth a visit if you are in the area. It has a lovely tea-room and a nice shop with soaps and skincare products and perfume of course. The garden, which is small, is divided up into lots of different little rooms, on integrates the natural Burren landscape well, creating changes of level and sloping walls. It has a maze, a birdhouse, a wishing well and a tiny pond, which was full of tadpoles. We had fun.
