Lists of Outdoor Activities for the Whole Family

Gardening With Kids—Fun Plants and Ideas for Children

• JAYME KINSEY

• JUN 29, 2021

Jayme is an artist and freelance writer who trained in the medical field, and has worked as caregiver, farmer, mom and DIY'er.

Tips and tricks for gardening with kids! By Jayme Kinsey (author)

Nurturing Children's Love for Nature

Have you ever read The Secret Garden? It is a delightful children's book about three children who discover and restore a neglected garden.

Although the children understand most of the science behind tending the flowers, they still believe that the garden is full of magic and wonder. This is how most children, even in today's technological world, perceive nature and all of its miracles.

Children love the outdoors. The bugs, the dirt, the birds, the flowers, the trees. After a long winter indoors, they are ready to burst free and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Gardening with your children is a fun, healthy way for your family to enjoy nature while learning new things, growing your own food, and improving your landscape.

Helping kids grow plants is easy too. They aren't nearly as fussy as adults. All they need are beds or plots of their own, some tools, some plants or seeds, and an adult who is willing and able to make the experience educational AND fun!

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.”— Frances Hodgson Burnett

Children always take time to smell the flowers.sharkye11

What Children Can Learn From Gardening

Growing flowers and plants (either from seeds, bedding plants, cuttings, or bulbs) provides an endless opportunity to learn about science and nature.

Kids can learn:

• The names of common plants

• Which plants are edible

• Why some plants prefer sun

• How plants use the sun and soil to grow

• How insects interact with plants

• The process of germination

• How to grow plants from cuttings and bulbs

• How plants provide oxygen

• How plants prevent soil erosion

• Basic soil chemistry

• How food is grown and preserved

Be sure to study up on your high school biology. You may hear tons of "why" questions!

Although gardening is a great science project, it is very important that you don't kill the magic of nature by being too factual. Young children especially need to find the wonder in how the earth works.

Encourage them to create stories around what they see (and think they see). This stimulates the imagination. The more enthusiastic you are about what they tell you and show you, the more eager they will be to share.

Consider it a trade. You are involving them in your gardening project, and they are involving you in their own world.

Pink pots all lined up and waiting for marigolds.sharkye11

Last year's zinnias and marigolds in a child's flowerbed.sharkye11

Child-Sized Flower Beds and Containers

Since children are a lot shorter than their adult counterparts, large flower beds can present a problem. Kids may have to step into the beds to reach some plants or weeds, which can endanger tender, young plants near the front. If containers are too tall, children may not be able to see the plants.

If your children are interested in growing plants, take the time to build or buy smaller containers that are easier to manage. If you don't have space to build new flowerbeds, get creative and re-purpose other items for container gardens. Things that make good beds can include:

• Small wading pools

• Sandboxes

• Buckets

• Painted tires

• Unused pots, pans, or bowls

You can also use store-bought flower pots. I recommend plastic for younger children over ceramic or clay.

If you are building flower beds specifically for children, let them help with the design. This helps to involve them even further. They may even want to outline their vegetable garden with timbers, bricks, or stones. Small segments of pre-existing beds can be divided off as well.

A small overturned cement step becomes a toddler sized bed for the mystical portulaca plant.sharkye11

Moving dirt and rocks is much easier with a toddler-sized wheelbarrow.sharkye11

Metal rake and hoe made just for tiny hands.sharkye11

Gardening Tools for Kids

Since gardening is the same as imaginative play for kids, they will enjoy having child-sized tools to make the adventure more realistic.

Not only will this prevent accidents from a child trying to wield an adult-sized hoe, there will also be less time spent searching for your misplaced tools.

Many stores carry a variety of gardening tools for kids. These can be plastic or metal. Some are exact miniatures of the tools mom and dad use.

Tools

• Shovel

• Rake

• Hoe

• Hand trowel

• Watering can

• Miniature wheelbarrow

• Small gardening gloves

• Tool caddy

Small buckets such as sand-buckets are also fun and useful. Don't forget to add sunscreen, hats, and sunshades to a child's gardening outfit.

A small watering can makes enjoying the first daffodils of spring more pleasant.sharkye11

Planting a daisy seed kit for kids.Sharkye11

Starting Seeds Indoors

Depending on your zone, you may want to start your seeds indoors. This gives the plants time to get stronger before they face a surprise cold-snap or a strong wind. It also provides an opportunity for kids to bring the outdoors inside while they wait for play weather.

Although you can wait and buy bedding plants for your garden, part of the magic for children is to watch the seeds germinate. It is also a valuable learning experience.

Seeds can be started in any container.

Some of the things we have used include:

• Disposable aluminum pans

• Assortment of plastic containers (including repurposed wet wipe boxes!)

• Bedding pots from last year

• Foam egg cartons

I also bought a seed starter kit for my daughter. It only cost $1 and came with a small pot, a pellet of growing medium, and a packet of daisy seeds. The daisies were the first plants of the season, and my daughter loved watching the pellet of growing medium swell when watered.

These kits probably won't provide enough flowers to fill a bed, but they are great pre-gardening activity. They can be very useful for those with limited space as well. The flowers can be re-potted and left to grow in a window.

Planting our snapdragon seeds.sharkye11

Yellow dwarf marigold my daughter planted by a tree.sharkye11

Butterfly Garden

Seeing butterflies on your flowers is one of the many rewards of gardening. If you have a child who loves butterflies, add these plants to the flower beds:

• Milkweed

• Asters

• Butterfly bushes

• Lavender

• Clover

• Violets

• Peas

Fast, Easy Seeds for Kids

Seeds are inexpensive, and each packet holds more than enough seeds to fill a small flower bed. Any flower can be grown, but impatient little gardeners may want to start with seeds that are quick to germinate.

Best Flowers for Kids

• Zinnias: By far, my top preference. They come in a wide range of colors, such as pink, orange, white, red, and yellow. The seeds can be mixed up to create a rainbow of color. Caring for them is easy too. They will grow in sun or shade. If you keep the dying flowers cut back, they will continue to bloom late into the fall.

• Marigolds: Another easy flower for kids. They come in rich bright colors, and a few plants can produce hundreds of blooms. Teach kids how to save the dried flowers so that they can plant their "own" seeds next year.

• Daisies: There are many varieties of daisies. Some will only bloom the second year. Stagger these with faster-growing flowers so that they can surprise your children next year.Sunflowers: they take about 120 days to reach full maturation. (when they produce seeds), but children can be fascinated with them long before they make food. Some of these giants can grow several feet tall, which will make your kids feel super-proud of their green thumbs!

• Bachelors Buttons: Even little boys will like these bright blue blooms. Bachelor's buttons are very easy for children to care for, as they will grow nearly anywhere. Stagger planting so that flowers continue to bloom throughout the season.

• Snapdragons: This plant can afford hours of imaginative play once it has bloomed. When squeezed a certain way, the flowers will open and snap closed, just like a tiny dragon mouth!

Zinnias are fast and easy for kids to grow.wikimedia commons public domain image

Easy Flowers to Grow From Seeds

Germination times and time until plants bloom will all vary depending on temperature, soil conditions, and whether they were started indoors.

Plant

Type

Days to Germinate (approx.)

Days Until Bloom (approx.)

Marigolds

Annual

7 days

45 days

Sunflowers

Annuals or perennials

10–12 days

12 weeks

Pansies

Perennials (commonly)

7–14 days

15 weeks

Zinnias

Annuals

5–7 days

8–12 weeks

Gerbera Daisies

Annuals

10–20 days

14–18 weeks

Nasturtiums

Annuals

7–14 days

6–8 weeks

Jayme Kinsey (author)

Fun Bulb Plants for Children

Bulbs can be very interactive. They can be started (forced) indoors in the winter. Kids can chart the growth of the bulbs as the seasons progress into spring.

Fun Bulbs

• Daffodils: These are not fussy plants. They will root whether they have access to soil OR water. The bulbs can be nestled pointy-side in a shallow dish of water indoors, where they will root and grow.

• Tulips: These are also easy to grow. With such a wide variety of colors, kids can choose the tulip that pleases them best. For extra fun, plant tulips in arrangements that create designs once the plant has bloomed.

• Irises: The blooms are huge and colorful. In warmer, humid regions, these bulbs will grow wherever they fall. They don't need much forcing.

• Crocuses: These flowers will produce more blooms as each year passes. Perfect for planting in clumps.

Privet hedge cutting rooted in water then transplanted to sandy soil.sharkye11

Rosemary cuttings rooting in the kitchen window.sharkye11

Herbs That Are Easy to Grow

• Lemon Balm

• Basil

• Chamomile

• Catnip

• Cilantro

Make Science ExcitingAllow a potato to sprout in a darkened area of your home. Then take the potato outside and plant.Kids can be amazed by how the pale green stems turn dark green and leaves form. This is a great way to explain photosynthesis.

Plants That Can Be Easily Rooted

Another fun way to experience growing a plant is to propagate a cutting. This can be done in either water or soil.

Propagating in water can make the roots more fragile, but it allows kids to watch the roots form, something they won't see if planted in soil.

Easy To Root

• Rosemary: It can be rooted either in water or sandy soil. We prefer to strip the bottoms of the cuttings of leaves then place in a glass of water. They root within a couple of weeks if placed in a sunny windowsill.

• Lavender: Clip a stem, remove several rows of leaves from the bottom, and place in a glass of water.

• Basil: Roots easily on the kitchen counter. And you can steal leaves for cooking while it is making roots.

• Privet Hedge: These cuttings can be either rooted in water or simply stuck in the ground and watered. Privets can be made into a living play fort by planting them in a semi-circle. In 2–4 years they will be tall enough to provide your children with a secret place to play. For added effect, plant snapdragons and daisies in the circle for their very own "secret garden."

• Mint: Any member of the mint family can be rooted in water. They can later be transplanted to a play area to make a fragrant ground cover.

When the cuttings have produced sufficient roots, they can be transplanted to a pot or to a flower bed. Since the roots will be tender, make sure the hole is large enough to accommodate them comfortably. Don't force them into the ground.

It helps to have plenty of soil loosened up around the roots too, so they can easily spread. Water-rooted plants may take a while to start growing once transplanted, but so far I have had good luck with this method.

Easy to Root From Cuttings

• Willow: Help children grow their own willow tree! Simply cut a green branch and plant in a permanent location. Water thoroughly every day. It doesn't take long before a willow starts to grow.

• Chrysanthemum: These cuttings will root in water or in soil. Stick them in any plot of ground and water. Soon they will be big, bushy, and happy.

• Coleus: Will root easily, even if just floated on water.

If planting "sticks" directly into soil (either a pot or the ground) you can dip the stems in rooting hormone first. You can use the commercial kind, or make your own by steeping chopped willow branches in hot water. Once the 'tea" has cooled, you dip the stems in it then plant. Or, you can root them directly in the willow water.

If rooting in water, change the water out every 3 days or when it becomes cloudy or green. This will help prevent rotting, and it allows a much clearer view of the stems. Adding pebbles or glass marbles to the water sometimes helps to toughen the roots to make transplant easier.

Water plants that are propagating in soil daily. Sometimes they wilt, but this doesn't necessarily mean they are dead.

Chrysanthemum cuttings being propagated. This year they are already showing buds.sharkye11

Small bed full of my daughter's favorite veggie-onions!sharkye11

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Vegetables and Fruit for Kids

Even a picky eater will be more willing to sample vegetables and fruit they have personally grown. If not, you still have some fresh produce for your kitchen, and your children got to enjoy the process of watching the plants grow and ripen.

Easy, Edible Plants for Kids

• Corn

• Tomatoes

• Watermelons

• Cucumbers

• Squash

• Pumpkins

• Carrots

• Beans

• Potatoes

• Peas

• Strawberries

Watermelons, vining peas, and beans are fun to watch as they climb fences or cages. Even as an adult I find it fascinating that the more pods I harvest from these plants, the more flowers and the pods they produce.

Potatoes can be entertaining because they will root even if they aren't in the ground. They can be rooted in water, in the dirt, or simply lying on the ground. (and sometimes in the produce bag!)

Beans and potatoes don't have to be purchased specifically for planting. If you can spare a handful of dried beans or a potato from the pantry, then you have a cheap, fun start on your child's vegetable garden.

Fun starter plants designed to appeal to kids.Q.A. Goodman, commissioned and used with permission

A dollar store fairy figurine guards the chrysanthemums.sharkye11

Children's Garden Decoration Ideas

Once the beds have been arranged and the seeds have been planted, it is time to add ornaments and whimsy to the garden. There are so many fun, pretty and interesting decorations for yards that it may be hard to choose just a few.

Best Garden Decor

• Birdbaths

• Gazing balls

• Statues

• Plant stakes

• Solar lights

• Bird feeders

• Butterfly puddlers and houses

• Birdhouses

• Signs

• Windchimes

If you are gardening on a budget, don't despair. Urge your kids to get creative and find discarded items to become garden ornaments.

Creative Decorations

• Bowls and shallow pans can be used as butterfly puddles.

• Painted wooden spoons can become charming plant stakes and markers.

• Painted rocks can replace gazing balls and add a splash of color among the greenery.

• Toys can be repurposed into wind chimes and suncatchers.

• Wood scraps can be painted and made into garden signs.

• Buckets can be painted and inverted to make plant stands.

• Saucers can be fixed to posts to create bird feeders. They can also make bed borders.

You can also look at dollar stores and thrift stores. Cheap, ceramic figurines look great nestled among the plants. These can usually be found for around $1.

Let children choose what they like. So, you might be the only house on the block with penguins rather than garden gnomes . . . but at least your landscape is unique!

Thrift stores and yard sales will sometimes yield old birdhouses. These can easily be painted in bright colors and added close to a child's garden so that they can enjoy watching birds.

One of the cheapest, yet most interesting, things you can use is a simple pinwheel. These are very inexpensive, but they add just the right touch to a child's garden. There is something very magical about pinwheels.

Repurposed kitchen frog becomes a toad-home. A truly magical touch to the garden.sharkye11

Toxic Ornamentals

Care and supervision should be used around certain plants. Here are some plants that should never be handled by children or grown where children can access them:

• Oleander

• Castor bean

• Foxglove

• Wisteria

• Nightshade

Other plants, such as irises, daffodils, and azaleas, can cause digestive upset if consumed in large quantities. These plants can still be enjoyed with supervision.

Safe Gardening for Children

Getting dirty and growing plants is relaxing, but it can also be dangerous. To make sure gardening is safe for your children, use common sense and these 4 basic safety rules.

1. Tools: Keep power tools away from areas where children are playing and working. Supervise the use of all sharp tools, even those made for children.

2. Water: Children love to play in the water. Just be sure to supervise around large containers of deep water, especially if younger children and toddlers are gardening too.

3. Plants: Not all plants are friendly plants. Teach kids to recognize harmful plants (such as poison ivy). Also teach them not to eat seeds, roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of certain plants. It is always a good idea to wash the hands after planting, as some plants can be slightly toxic. (usually, they have to be consumed in large quantities to be dangerous, though).

4. Utility lines: Make sure you know where your lines are before you let your children dig!

Something purple that I didn't plant, but that was allowed to stay in the garden.sharkye11

How Gardening With Your Children Benefits You

Your kids aren't the only ones that will learn from digging in the earth. You may be a top-notch gardener, but when you begin to teach children about plants and flowers, you are going to see the world of nature from a whole new perspective.

Not only will you be exercising, reducing stress, and spending quality time with your family, you are going to find yourself naming worms, relocating bugs, staring at spider webs, and stopping to watch interesting clouds float by.

It is almost certain that you will be sprayed by the water hose and doused in dirt. You will be appalled, most likely, as you realize your vision of perfectly manicured beds won't be realized this season.

You will find flowers growing in places you didn't want them. You may be forced to keep a "pretty" weed because your child has been watering it dutifully every day.

All of these factors will make gardening with your children a memorable event. Just relax and let your flowers and your imagination go wild.

Be satisfied with a cottage or witches' garden this year, rather than a formal garden. In doing so, you and your children will both learn how to truly be in tune with the earth. As Burnett states in The Secret Garden,

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."

Gardening is magical to children. Original artwork by author.sharkye11

$19

At the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses in Boothbay, Maine, visitors partake in a sensory outdoor experience immersed in a broad array of fragrant, colorful, edible and textured plantings. There is a reflexology labyrinth, sound stones, benches, walkways, raised beds and water features, allowing visitors of all abilities to explore the garden. (AP Photo/ Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, William Cullina)

What is a Sensory Garden?

In many respects, a sensory garden is rather like any other garden, apart from the fact that it has been carefully crafted to stimulate the senses. The recipe includes an inspirational blend of natural features, textures, skillful planting and sensory experiences, all designed to promote and support a broad range of feelings and emotions.

It’s best to think of these experiences according to how they might be accessed and enjoyed via our principal channels of sensory communication:

• Sight.

• Sound.

• Touch.

• Smell.

• Taste.

Anyone young or old can enjoy a sensory garden. Still, they will be especially loved by children who have to grow up coping with autistic impairments or other sensory processing issues.

Medical research terms autism a ‘spectrum disorder’ – which means the symptoms can vary along a continuum from mild to extremely severe and each sufferer could potentially have a unique mix of different kinds and varying degrees of sensory impairment. For professional garden designers, that means making allowances for a broad range of possible requirements for the multi-user sensory garden. For DIY Gardeners, the sensory garden can be much more customized for a specific user. Regardless of the number of users, some principles must be considered first and foremost.

Basic Principles – Sections
A sensory garden should be divided into clear sections so that the visual, tactile or other sensory ‘messages’ each area conveys remain clear and undistorted. The transition from one zone to another is also a key point; many children with autism dislike any sudden sense of shock or surprise. Something as simple as a sudden colour scheme change could trigger an unwanted feeling.

This also means, for example, that quiet areas, which are very important to any sensory garden, should not be located right beside sites dedicated to more boisterous activities.

Similarly, any sectors likely to be more challenging to access should preferably be sited around the perimeter to avoid presenting less confident users with too many obstacles right at the entrance to the garden.

Transitions will require some careful thought whilst bearing in mind the five senses; sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Any movement from one zone to another should be sensitively managed and planned, so there are no jarring or sharply contrasting experiences as they travel around the sensory garden.

Key Takeaway:
Create separate sections and do include a calm zone. Ensure the user can travel from one section to another without any jarring or sharp contrasting experiences. Veg patches, even small ones such as a herb garden are a great addition and work well if placed close the calm zone.

The TechRadar website has listed the best design software products for mapping landscaped gardens. From complex CAD software to basic planners such as Garden Planner, check out their list.

Basic Principles – Calm Zone

A key principle of almost every sensory garden is the calm zone. Sensory gardens should include their own quiet, secluded zone where users can experience a peaceful atmosphere.

Privacy and some shelter can be achieved by a fence or wall partition, by the siting of a shed/hut or even a sunken area with raised beds around the edge. Waterproof floor mats can also be used for comfort.

Quiet, peaceful zones can be placed close to vegetable patches, herb gardens and decorative areas but should be kept as far away from noisy, hectic “play” areas as possible.

Where possible, use calming neutral colours and focus on comfort and seclusion, perhaps a bench or bench/table combination. A shaded area of the garden would be perfect for a calm zone so the user can also stay out of direct sunlight.

Key Takeaway:
Locate calm zones away from hectic areas but close to educational sections such as veg patches and herb gardens. Use neutral colours and focus on relaxation with suitable partitions comfort furniture. Try to make the calm zone less busy and hectic it terms of design and contents.

A calm zone is the perfect place to locate comfy seating such as a swing seat, hammock or our favorite; the globo seat.

Basic Principles – Safety Needless to say, safety is the most important consideration when building a sensory garden and there a couple of points we’ll cover:

• Plants and toxicity.

• Monitoring and supervision.

There are thousands of plants to consider for your sensory garden, some will be edible while some might be only for decoration. When deciding on which plants to include, check your list against the

 Gardeners World 

database of plants. There you’ll find in-depth information about most plants, including toxicity to humans and pets. For example,

this page 

tells us that Dianthus “Sugar Plum” isn’t toxic to humans but can be to cats and dogs. The RHS also has a detailed

 list of plants toxic to humans.

The monitoring of any child is important, not just children with autism. While supervision of a child in a small garden with just a lawn is fairly straightforward, a complex sensory garden with lots of sections and items could pose some extra hurdles. There are several ways to ensure safe supervision and monitoring:

• First, design the garden so there’s a clear line of sight from the property to the most popular parts of the garden. This will likely be the calm zone and the activity zone.

• Next, use strategically placed mirrors so there are no blind spots.

• Finally, don’t be afraid to install a security camera. These days they are really cheap, small, easy to install, produce clear pictures up to 4K Ultra HD quality and you can use phones, laptops, pads and TV screens to view the footage over wifi.
  
  

Key Takeaway

Check plant suitability on Gardeners World for safety. Design the garden with a clear line of sight if possible and deploy mirrors and cameras so it’s easier to monitor your child wherever they are.

Beyond the Basics: Textures, Colours, Patterns and Shapes

The sensations arising from the feel of various elements in a garden have the capacity to draw children to explore them in greater detail. More importantly, sensory feedback has a far deeper impact on a child than even the best verbal explanation:

• The crunch of gravel underfoot.

• The feel of sand trickling through the fingers and around the toes.

• The roughness of tree bark.

• The dryness and softness of a patch of moss.

• How running water feels and sounds.

A collection of plants can contribute a full spectrum of colour with seasonal changes as a bonus. Beyond garden flowers and blooms, ornamental grasses, trees and wild plants all add to your sensory garden’s pageant of vibrant colour. Single colours can create quite dramatic effects while contrasting colours can add stimulating visual highlights. Just as in decorated interior spaces, colours can be perceived as both warm and cold. So displays and combinations of cooler colours like white, blue and green have a calming effect, while bright, warm colours such as orange, yellow and red hues tend to promote energy and stimulate lively responses.

Materials can also, of course, be arranged into exciting shapes and patterns. For example, plants can be arranged in circles or twisting spiral patterns that appear to flow.

Texture wheels are a mainstay of professionally designed sensory gardens, and competent DIYers should find them easy and fun to build. The idea is incredibly simple; create a circle in the ground, perhaps 3 metres across and then split into sections. Each section should contain different material; some suggestions are:

• Marbles.

• Pebbles.

• Slate.

• Brick.

• Sand.

• Gravel.

• Grass.

• Artificial grass.

If ingestion is a concern, embed loose materials in glues or concrete. The materials can also be embedded in walls to create visual and tactile mosaics; these are perhaps more suitable for smaller gardens where space is limited.

Key Takeaway

Textures, colours and patterns can be created with many affordable and easy-to-use products such as sand, gravel and marbles etc. These often compliment arrangements of plants. Whether creating an entire section or a path between sections, do bear in mind that sharp, jarring contrasts should be avoided and the transition from one zone to another should be smooth and predictable.

A sensory garden. Photo by Senteq Garden Designers. Note the different flooring materials, their colours and textures.

Beyond the Basics: TasteTaste gives us all a new perspective, and thus another way to appreciate and learn about our gardens. Once again, it is far better to allow children to experience the delights of picking apples and tasting the delicious fruits. This will promote greater satisfaction, and thus a deeper understanding, than even the best multimedia classroom presentation or even buying bland, mass-grown foods off a supermarket shelf.

The same applies with vegetables which require preparation: a project which involves digging fresh potatoes from the soil before cooking and eating them will give children the chance to make an enduring connection between what the earth can nurture and that tasty portion of chips or mashed potato.

Most of the full-flavoured fruit and vegetables we eat are surprisingly easy to grow. Some tasty vegetables to try could include; peas, carrots, broad beans, radishes and lettuce.

Herbs are also traditionally used to add extra spice to our food, and those with a distinctive taste include; rosemary, basil, chives and spearmint, as well as nasturtium, pot marigolds and the sweet, diminutive wild strawberry.

Children with autism often (but not always) limit their choice of food to only a few items. For example, my nephew loves chips and quite literally, only chips (along with plenty of ketchup of course). My suggestion was for my sister to grow potatoes in her garden and lots of them. Not only has this proven fascinating to Jason, but my sister is also now introducing sweet potatoes to the garden. Maybe introducing tomatoes (as an alternative to ketchup) to the garden might be a step too far for my nephew but it’s worth trying.

Is your garden small and space limited? No problem, grow in pots or containers that are fixed to the walls or fence to save floor space.

Key TakeawayCreate a veg patch or herb garden section in the garden as the results can be very visually appealing and educational. If the person with autism is expected to consume the food grown, start with comfort foods they are familiar with and already eat regularly. Avoid the temptation to force the person to try new foods as this can lead to pushback.

Aroma Therapy Many flowering plants give off strong scents. But, apart from adding some delightful smells to any sensory garden environment, nature uses this ability to produce a distinctive aroma to attract a range of pollinating insects.The opposite also applies – where it is necessary, for example, to prevent insects eating plant leaves, a plant may naturally produce a smelly odour to ward off any insects foolish enough to try.Some plants to try in a pick-and-sniff herb or flower bed include:

• Purple-flowering lavenders, which have a fresh, relaxing smell.

• Scented geraniums with crinkled leaves, which give off a lemony aroma when crushed between the fingers.

• Curry plants with aromatic leaves that fill the air with a spicy curry smell during warm weather.

• Chocolate cosmos flowers, which have a scent something like chocolate or vanilla.

Key Take away
There are far too many scented plants to list here but do consider the users preference and toxicity/safety. The rest will probably come down to trial and error.

Sounds Like a Good Idea

Sound, and indeed silent states, are so well woven into our experience of the natural world that most children (and many adults too) may need to be prompted and encouraged to actually ‘hear’ and/or identify them. This applies all the more to subtle sounds such as the low whisper coming from a reed bed as the breeze passes through, or the satisfying buzzing and murmuring of pollen-hunting garden bees. Any study of natural sounds, and the calming, healing effects they can have on any listener, could begin by noticing the birdsong in a sensory garden and its environs, as well as in the air above our heads. Our more common garden birds are attracted to gardens containing insect-friendly plants, as well as carefully sited bird feeders. Other natural sounds include leaves rustling in the wind and the swaying stems of bamboo, tall and elegant ornamental grasses, reeds, and some taller vegetables such as sweetcorn. Water is another rich source of natural sounds and other sensory experiences: the calm, mirrored surface of a small pool in some quiet, secret corner; the pleasant, low-level babbling of a small stream or a flowing, artificial water channel; the trickling, splashing, bubbling and dripping effects achieved by fountains and garden water features of every description.

With some creative planning, a further fascinating range of atmospheric nature-activated sounds can be added to your sensory garden. These could include wind bells, and a variety of wind chimes and xylophone tones all induced to emit short bursts of musical notes randomly created by the blowing of even the gentlest summer breeze.

Key Takeaway

There’s no easy blueprint for creating sounds in a garden. Some on the autism scale may enjoy wind chimes while for others they could be very disturbing. It’s best to include natural sounds where possible, encouraging wildlife to the garden is an easy win. Water and tall grass-like plants produce natural sounds that are often calming.

An outdoor musical instrument. Photo by Percussion Play. Check out their site for ideas, inspirational and very good quality, if pricey, products.

Getting StartedTo get started with your sensory garden, we suggest starting with good old fashioned pen-and-paper.Draw out your garden and, we suggest, start by splitting the space into clear zones:

1. A play area containing perhaps a lawn, sandpit, toy boxes, and other fun stuff.

2. A veg patch or herb garden, this is great for education, it creates smells, colours and textures from plants that are safe to touch as well as eat. Strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes are great plants to start with.

3. A calm zone or relaxation area, this is essential and should contain a sheltered area ideally with seating such as a comfy bench.

4. An interactive area and/or an educational area. This can be part of the garden where touch, smell and sight are explored. Surfaces and walls can be created or covered with different materials such as marbles, slate chips, gravel, sand, tarmac, concrete, artificial grass, rubber mats etc. These can complement plants that are interesting to touch, such as Lamb’s Ear.

5. I advised my sister to install garden lights amongst the plants and to point up the walls/fences/trees etc.; each light could have a different coloured bulb and each with its own switch. This introduces an element of interactivity and allows the user to set the mood when natural light levels are low. Switches can also be used to activate water features such as jets of water anywhere in the garden. Ant farms contained in glass boxes can also be of educational interest, as can bird and hedgehog boxes. The installation of small CCTV cameras can complement the garden as the wildlife can be monitored from inside the home, perhaps on a rainy or cold day.

6. A growing zone. This is where fast-growing or seasonal plants can be placed, and they don’t have to be edible. A good starter is, of course, the sunflower plant!

Explore More:

List of external pages:

Not specific to autism, but the Sensory Trust is worth exploring nonetheless. The SenTeq website has a small photo gallery of sensory gardens, note the different floor materials/textures and colours etc. and the use of lights.

Percussion Play produces top-tier products that are perhaps more suited to multi-user gardens, but there’s plenty of ideas to be had from their website.

Thank you for reading. By Hannah Miller

You May Also Like: How to Get Kids Started With Gardening (lots of ideas and suggestions here)

I wanted to integrate play structures for my toddler so that the yard would be usable but also beautiful and educational. Creating elements like a table and chairs made out of found wood stumps, a hopscotch pathway through the middle of the garden, and low plantings (18″ and under) that are decorative, sensory, and occasionally edible, makes for an interactive garden space that becomes an extension of the lawn.

These hopscotch stepping stones were created by using this method and laid in the garden forming a path that goes by bleeding hearts, blueberries, and bunny tail grasses until it reaches the table and chairs made out of wood stumps.

Above the table and chairs is a solar light chandelier which you can see how to make here.

On the table, a tea kettle planted with succulents leads you to believe it is the perfect spot for a tea party.

More stepping stones were created throughout the garden beyond the hopscotch stones, using prints from leaves found around the garden. See how to make these stepping stones here.

In addition, a leaf from the large rhubarb that grows at the west side of the garden was used as a mold to create the stepping stone that sits at the base of the table and chairs. See how to make stepping stones from large leaves here.

Upon exiting the play space, there is a pot for digging with a wall of golden raspberries in behind for snacking.

Coming out of the garden you approach two bright red Adirondack chairs, beside the Japanese maple “Bloodgood” that is planted in a large pot filled with alpine strawberry plants. I plant strawberries wherever I have a free container. More on strawberries in containers here and here and here.

My favorite place to relax is the hammock swing. Built off the deck with an arbor structure, this hammock swing is the perfect spot to enjoy the garden. The arbor is currently growing an evergreen clematis, although it can’t be seen yet. In time it will cover the arbor providing some shade and beautiful fragrance when in bloom.

The stairs go up to the deck which overlooks the garden. Beside the deck you’ll find the perennial herb garden which makes for easy access for zipping down from the kitchen to get some fresh herbs. The herb garden contains rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, nodding onion, chives, a large fig tree, and even a small yuzu tree I was given as a gift. (See the perennial herb garden from my last house here). There are also a few hanging baskets with annuals sent to me from Proven Winners as part of their 2016 collection.

All of this in a small city backyard and I haven’t even shown you HALF of the gardens!