Sensory Garden-SOUND

Social and Therapeutic Horticulture incorporates the 5 senses, this post focusses on the sense of SOUND.

 In a sensory garden you’ll want to include elements of contrasting sounds, because auditory stimulation can be helpful for enhancing mood, cognition and relaxation.

 Sounds often occur naturally like wind rustling through the leaves on trees, bamboo stems, grasses, or plant foliage. They all make different sounds as they sway with the breeze.

 Plant flowers that attract wildlife, such as native wildflowers, to hear the sound of buzzing bees and other insect pollinators.

 A bird feeder will encourage birds to come into your garden and have a sing! Bird song is a beautiful and musical addition to any garden space.

 Sound can also come from non living elements, like bells and wind chimes and water features. The sound of water can be very calming and stimulate hearing as well as attracting wildlife. You don’t have to have a large garden to have a water feature, you can make a pond from a container.

 Think about planting plants that rustle in the wind, such as bamboo or the hardy bottlebrush plant which has bright red flowers that turn into seed heads that rustle in the wind. This plant can grow quite big so don’t be afraid to trim it to the size you want!

 So next time you are out in the garden, sit quietly and listen to the sounds. How many sounds do you hear? Bees buzzing, birds chirping, plants rustling…

 Quiet spaces with ‘soft’ comforting natural sounds, can provide a calming soothing effect for people living with dementia.