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Engaging the Senses

“We each have our own, unique ideas about how our garden should look and feel - the common element is a clear identity. A garden with a clear sense of place might thus be a tranquil, simple space within which to escape from the frenetic pace of modern life, or it may be a lively, colourful area where the whole family can enjoy games and barbecues.”

Dean Hickson, Tutor

As a gardener, what does the phrase, ‘a sense of place’ mean to you? We thought of the following meanings, but you may have thought of others:

• a clear sense of identity - even ‘personality’;
• a sense of belonging - whether within the landscape or in harmony with the house;
• a feeling of cohesion and completeness;
• timelessness - garden design, like any other area of design, goes through fashions and trends, but the strongest gardens are often timeless. Designers may adopt contemporary ideas and incorporate them into an existing garden, but this will probably not change the ’sense of place’ greatly; instead it should enhance it.

“People like circular or curvy gardens with plenty of movement…. They don’t want formal gardens - they are looking for something softer, more relaxed and easy to live with.”

Carol Gallagher McCulloch, Scotland on Sunday, 2005.

A garden with a strong sense of place works in every respect - cohesion, design, colour, identity. The design is confident (although that does not necessarily mean bold) and visitors feel comfortable within it.

“You always know when you’re entering a balanced, well-proportioned garden because it feels comfortable - lines lead you naturally through the space, and shapes and volumes are restful on the eye … Most of us want our outdoor spaces to offer a peaceful sanctuary.”

Diarmuid Gavin, Design your Garden.

sensory experience

We experience a garden through every one of our senses, and a true sense of place is created when there is harmony between the different sensory messages we are picking up - touch, smell, sound, vision and even taste. For this reason, when creating a garden, you need to be aware of the different ways in which your design harnesses the senses.

How do you think a garden design could engage the following senses: hearing, smell, touch, and taste? There are many possibilities here, but some that we thought of immediately include:

• Hearing - water features, wind chimes, plants that rustle or rattle in the wind.
• Smell - open patio fires, especially if burning scented wood; flowers; scented foliage. Smell is often used to create a welcoming, tranquil atmosphere in the garden.
• Touch - when it comes to experiencing a garden, touch is often of central importance. Examples range from spiky ornamental thistles to the feathery, plume-like flowers of astilbe and Cotinus Coggygria. Hard landscaping may also be important, ranging from soft, warm wood to cold granite or slate. Texture is a key feature of many successful designs.
• Taste - This is often associated with smell, so it can be a particularly important sense around the patio area. Because vision, smell and taste are closely linked, your design can engage the sense of taste indirectly. For instance, a patch of strongly scented mint will set the taste buds tingling, as will a tree laden with luscious citrus fruits. You see a citrus fruit and catch a hint of their aroma, and before you know you can almost taste them too!

vision

Of all the senses, vision is the one with most impact when we first walk into a garden.

The way we see colour evolved primarily as a survival mechanism, and today colours still gives us important messages about safety - for instance, the warning colours of a poisonous snake, or the red-orange glow of a hot ember - but more than this, colour helps us to enjoy the beauty of our environment. Scientists have argued that our ability to experience colour is far beyond that we might need simply for survival purposes and we seem to have an inbuilt ability to find pleasure in colour. Researchers Padgham and Saunders note:

“Our ability to see colour is highly elaborate for the mere necessities of reproduction and survival. Our capability is far beyond what is needed to distinguish ripe from unripe fruit or acuity for mobility. Joy in colour is a bonus of our senses.”

scent

Our sense of smell is a powerful tool. Among other things, it tells us:

• if something is good to eat or has gone bad;
• how something tastes - if you nip your nose when you eat, you will not be able to taste the food properly;
• often, if there is a danger nearby - for instance, a gas leak;
• if we find someone or something attractive - smell is an important hidden component of attraction.

Smell can also evoke memories and help us to identify people or places, even when we cannot see them. As we have seen smell is central to creating a strong sense of place in the garden.

Many of us under-use our sense of smell, choosing instead to rely on our vision. Try to become more aware of the way everyday items, places and people smell. As you go through the day, close your eyes sometimes (but only when it safe to do so!) and experience your environment entirely through smell.

Think about what smells can tell you? They might, for instance, tell you that the chicken you are cooking for dinner is fresh and will taste good. On the otherhand, they might tell you that there is something old and out-of-date lurking at the back of the fridge! Some smells will evoke memories. These may be pleasant, or rather less so. Understanding more about aroma and how it affects mood can help you to make the most of scent in the garden too.

There has been much research into the powerful psychological impact of smell. For instance, researchers at Yale University in America found that the aroma of apple and cinnamon has a powerful stabilising influence on some people, especially patients suffering from nervous anxiety. The smell was even found to reduce the blood pressure and ward off panic attacks. In the garden, similarly, the right smells may have a calming and soothing effect.

The area of the brain associated with smell is called the olfactory centre. It is directly connected to other parts of the brain concerned with basic drives such as sex, hunger and thirst, and also with much more sophisticated aspects of understanding, including emotion, memory, intuition and creativity.

To try a free short gardening course visit: Learning Curve Home Study.

For more gardening articles visit The Garden School.,/p>

Director of Studies at <a href="http://www.learningcurve-uk.com> Learning Curve Home Study </a>, one of the UK's leading home study providers.

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What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are the fragrant liquids found in aromatic plants. They may be found in many different parts of the plant: resin, bark, flowers, leaves, seeds, roots, wood. List your favourite plant smells. Our list included:

• the flowers of white jasmine
• the needles and resin of a pine tree
• the leaves of mint and basil
• the peel of a lemon
• vanilla pods
• cumin seeds.

You may have thought of many other aromatic plant parts. The distinctive smell of each of these plants comes from essential oils. Aromatic plants are probably already an important part of your life. They will almost certainly be a key ingredient in much of the food you prepare, and you may also use them to scent your home, and in the form of perfume to fragrance your body. You can also use them to powerful effect when designing a garden.

Essential oils are found in tiny oil glands or sacs which are found in the aromatic parts of the plant. Sometimes, several parts of the plant are aromatic (for instance, lavender oil is extracted from both the flowers and the leaves), and in some instances, different parts of the plant produce a quite different aromatic oil (the bitter orange tree produces three very different oils).

These wonderful natural oils serve many uses within the plant, including:

• attracting pollinating insects
• warding off predators
• repelling disease - almost all essential oils have antiseptic properties.

Essential oils have been widely used for many centuries for their antiseptic and other health-giving properties, and are also an essential component in aromatherapy. When Dr Jean Valnet used essential oils to treat soldiers’ wounds during World War 2, not only did the powerful fragrances mask the smell of gangrenous wounds, but the oils actively stopped the decay. Valnet also noticed that soldiers sleeping rough in pine forests suffered fewer respiratory complaints than others as a result of the pine resin vapour saturating the air. For the same reason, Swiss sanatoriums were traditionally located near pine forests to help patients suffering from tuberculosis and other chest conditions.

In the garden, too, we may be able to harness some of the therapeutic properties of essential oils, simply by positioning plants where we can enjoy their scent. In addition, plants that are positioned where people are likely to stand on them or brush past them will release more of their scent as they are crushed or bruised. Beautifully scented herbs may thus be used to line walkways, while honeysuckle or jasmine surround a seating area, and a camomile lawn may be planted to release a wonderful scent when walked upon.

Experimenting with scented plants can introduce an exciting new dimension to the design process. As with visual elements it is important to ensure that garden scents are in harmony and do not jar against each other. The scent profile may change as a visitor walks around a garden - at one point enjoying the heady scent of a rose bed, but further on relaxing beneath a bower of aromatic conifers.

Sensory Gardens

We can all enjoy sensory gardens, but visitors who have a sensory impairment may take particular enjoyment from them. For instance, when creating a garden for a client with impaired vision, the designer can introduce plants and other features that stimulate hearing (water features, rustling grasses), as well as a wide range of scented plants, and plants such as grasses and feathery leaved species that can be enjoyed by touch.

For more gardening advice, visit The Garden School

To try a free home study gardening course, visit Learning Curve.

Copyright: Linda Pollitt
Director of Studies at <a href="http://www.learningcurve-uk.com> Learning Curve Home Study </a>, one of the UK's leading home study providers.
p>For more gardening advice, visit <a href="http://www.gardenschool.eu"> The Garden School</a></p>
<p>To try a free home study gardening course, visit <a href="http://www.onthecurve.co.uk"> Learning Curve.</a></p>

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why is it so important?

In recent years, the popularity of wildlife gardening has grown dramatically. Not only are gardeners increasingly aware of our declining wildlife and keen to play a role in its survival, but they are also discovering the joy of sharing a garden with native species.

We share our small garden with birds, frogs, toads, hedgehogs and even the odd fox. Nothing quite beats the magic of breakfast outside on a sunny morning, watching the birds feed, squabble and sing.

Jane Davies.

The past 100 years have seen the loss of some of our most precious habitats. Ecologist Janice Crook explains “Estimates vary widely, but it seems that since 1945 we have lost something like 50% of our ancient woodland, and 95% of our flower-rich meadows.” Little wonder then that many of our most loved wild animal species have also declined dramatically. Even once common species such as tree sparrows are at risk — these lively garden visitors are now on the RSPB’s red data list for endangered species.

Even tiny wildlife areas can help to stem the decline by providing a safe home for native plants and animals. It might seem that one small garden cannot make a difference to such a huge problem, but with around fifteen million private gardens in Britain , covering up to three million acres of land, gardeners really can make a difference. If even a fraction of these gardeners gave some of their land over to wildlife habitat they could provide many new homes for our most endangered species. Gardens have special value because they are arranged into networks of green space, often going into the very hearts of our largest cities, and forming safe ‘wildlife corridors’ along which animals and plants can travel.

As our farmland and other natural areas continue to be degraded or developed, gardens will become ever more important as wildlife refuges.

A Wildlife Food Supply

If you have the space, select a range of plants that can supply different types of food throughout the year. The following guidelines will help you to maximise the amount of pollen and nectar available in your garden:

• plant a range of species that flower at different times of the year;
• include some early flowering plants, as early spring is a critical time for many insects;
• include plenty of species where the nectar and pollen is available near the surface of the flower;
• select simple flowers where the pollen and nectar are easy for insect visitors to reach - avoid double flowers and others that are difficult for insects to tackle. Also be aware that some garden flowers are sterile.

What To Do

Small changes can make a tremendous difference to the amount of wildlife attracted into your garden. For instance, by incorporating native plants carrying scented flowers, seeds and berries you can attract birds, bees, butterflies, and many other desirable animals, as well as predatory insects such as ladybirds. Butterflies, moths and songbirds feed mainly on nectar, pollen and seed. Bees too are attracted by nectar.

You can incorporate ‘food’ plants throughout the garden or perhaps plan a ’service station border’ which contains a mixture of flowering and fruiting shrubs, herbaceous perennials and colourful bedding plants, all chosen to provide food for wildlife. If you only have a small window box select beautiful flowering annuals to attract bees and butterflies, as well as brightening up a window sill.

The following list shows some of the most successful border flowers and shrubs offering pollen, nectar and seeds, but remember that wildflowers can be important too.

Garden plants to look out for include: Christmas rose (Helleborus niger), winter aconite (Earanthus hyemalis), elephant’s ears (Bergenia cordifolia), anenome (Anenome blanda), polyanthus (Primula vulgaris elatior), honesty (Lunaria biennis), sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis), forget-me-not (Myosotis spp.), leopard’s bane (Doronicum pardalianches), sweet william (Dianthus barbatus), shasta daisy (Chrysanthemum maximum), cranesbill (Geranium spp.), sweet bergamot (Monarda didyma), oriental poppy (Papaver orentiale), valerian (Centranthus ruber), angelica (Angelica archangelica), lovage (Levesticum officinale), yarrow (Achillea filipendulina), hollyhock (Alcea rosa), snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), mint (Mentha rotundifolia), meadow saffron (Colchium autumnale).

Wildflowers that are particularly good as a source of nectar or seeds include: lesser burdock (Articum minus), hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum), field scabious (Knautia arvensis), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum), betony (Stachys officinalis), and hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica).

Shrubs to attract wildlife include: Buddleia (Buddleia spp.), Chaenomeles japonica, Pyracantha coccinea, Amelanchier canadensis, Cotoneaster frigida, Viburnum tinus, Viburnum bodnantense, Mahonia spp., Cytisus scoparius (broom), and shrub roses of all kinds.

In addition, where possible incorporate native tree and shrub species, such as hawthorn, guelder rose, and elder in the UK, as these are particularly attractive to native insects and birds.

To try a free home study gardening course visit Learning Curve.

For more gardening advice visit The Garden School.

Director of Studies at <a href="http://www.learningcurve-uk.com> Learning Curve Home Study </a>, one of the UK's leading home study providers.

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