Ash Green has gardens to stimulate senses -sight, sound, smell, touch. Where senses are impaired – sight, hearing, memory, smell – other senses can be stimulated, for example by imaginative planting. Though Horticulture we provided:
Scented plants for all seasons, herbs, texture to touch, colour and seasonal change
Horticultural therapy
Trees for shade and seasonal change – Arboretum
Butterfly garden
Plants with berries to attract birds to feed in winter
Raised beds for touching, accessible for wheelchairs
The hard landscape also played an important role within the sensory garden:
Tactile and relief paving e.g. cobble mosaic provides visual and tactile focus
Pergola with slatted top to provide dappled shade
Private seating areas for one or two people, small quiet niche areas
Texture trails
Seating may double as raised planters or climbing/balance equipment
Different wall and seat surfaces to touch – timber, stone, metal
