Layout of Garden
Garden Map
Step One - Dividing Your Garden
When planning your Sensory Garden, size DOES NOT matter. Work with the space you have! Start by dividing the space you are working with into 5 sections. Get creative with how you split them. You can use rocks, garden edging or anything that can make a border out of. Once you have the 5 sections, then look below and this will help you plan each section of your garden. Remember to stay true to what you can find locally. Some of the plants you see in my pictures may not be available to you because I am in Japan. Also, do not feel like you have to buy everything brand new. I did a lot of shopping in thrift stores, discount craft stores and donations of items people no longer wanted.
Step Two - Selecting Your Plants
For each section below, the color corresponds to the map above to help you see how I planned my garden.
Sound
For the Sound section of my garden, I chose to use plants that were brightly colored to attract people to this section because you "Can not SEE sound!" You will read in Step three how I incorporated sound into the garden. I chose to use plants that did not flower because I had flowers in other sections of the garden.
Suggested plants: Hosta, Coleus, Caladium
In my garden: I used 7 different varieties of Coleus so I had plenty of color and the plants all grew to be the same size. They also filled in the space nicely.
Sight
In the Sight Section of the garden, you can not go wrong with any plants that flower or are colorful! You can stick to a color theme or just go crazy depending on the look you are going for! Fill up the space and let them grow!
Suggested plants: Sunflowers, Daisies, Marigold,, Cockscomb
The sky is the limit in this section! Be super creative!
In my garden: This section of my garden was the hardest to maintain because of the very high summer temperatures. I did have plants that died and had to be replaced but what I found to work the best were Sunflowers, Japanese Buttercups, Marigolds, and Japanese Impatients.
Touch
This section of the garden was the most fun for me to work with. To pick plants for this area, I simply walked through the nursery and touched everything! You want to have a large variety of textures to make it interesting and also remember your clientele. I chose not to put a cactus in my garden because I knew I would have a lot of smaller children visiting.
Suggested plants: Succulent smaller garden, Lambs Ear, Tall grasses that grow tuffs that look like cat tails
In my garden: I used a variety of 8 different succulents to create a small garden in the red wagon. I also planted lambs ear, Crimson Fountain Grass and Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass.)
Taste
In this section of the garden, I made my way to the cooking herbs. I tried to get a wide variety of tastes even though some of them were bitter. Be aware that some herb plants grow and spread very quickly and need to be trimmed or planted far away from other plants.
Suggested Plants: Mint, Basil, Rosemary, Tarragon, Thyme
In my Garden: I included in my garden Basil, Rosemary, Japanese Tea Lemon Mint and Lemon Balm.
Smell
For the smell section, I once again spent a lot of time researching herbs that were used here in Japan for cooking and flavoring teas. I spent time touching the plants in the nursery and then smelling my hands. Some of the herbs and plants, you have to pluck leaves and pinch or break to release oils to smell them.
Suggested Plants: Lemongrass, Lemon Mint, Lavender, Sage
In my Garden: I planted Lemon Grass, Thyme, Fernleaf Lavender, and Mint.
Step Three - Adding Large Decorative Pieces
For this step, think about a theme for your garden and look for larger decorative pieces to support this idea. These larger pieces can also help you with your senses. For example:
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In SOUND - #1 Water Feature
#5 Wind Chime
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In SIGHT - #2 - Watering Can
#3 - Bird House
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In TOUCH - #4 - Succulent Garden
Step Four - Adding Smaller Decorative Pieces
Look for smaller outdoor decorations that help support your theme. I chose to create a garden where Gnomes lived and worked with animals. There are gnome houses, gnomes, different animals, etc that all create this small village living under the plants. This creates a garden that is fun to look at even before the plants have grown in.
Step Five - Finishing Details
The last step you need is to label your garden with signs so people know where the different sections are in your garden. If you choose to add the Grounding signs, these would be added at this time also. If you need help with placement, see #6 on the map above.
