Sensory Garden Preparations
Every spring, we plan what to plant in the sensory garden. Allie, one of our volunteers deals with the organisation of the sensory garden and discusses ideas with the people we support.
Wildlife is a big consideration when deciding summer planting for the garden, we are very keen to keep the bees and butterflies happy. The primroses, spring bulbs and hellebores have all been in flower, providing some of the first food of spring for bumble bees and our honey bees emerging after the winter.
All are welcome to come and visit the sensory garden. Just pop down to Dale Farm during the week between 10am and 2pm and take a walk in our beautiful tranquil garden.
So far, we have been busy spreading manure, pruning and weeding. We are very lucky here at Dale Farm to have access to a plentiful supply of manure and we are very grateful for all the donations we receive of well rotted manure.
Most of the meadow summer flowers and our crop plants are all grown from seed, for the past couple of months we have been busy preparing for the growing season. This year thanks to our large heated propagator, so we have been able to start off many crops and flower seeds early, whilst protecting them from frosts. The heated propagator was built last year by the people we support, staff and volunteers and is being well used to get the season off to a flying start.
We have been blessed with lots of sunshine this spring and have been greeted by a glorious display of flowers right around the farm.
The sensory garden is showing many signs of new life as it awakens for another growing year.
We use plants to entice all the senses and ensure that the garden is accessible for wheelchair users. Some of the people we support have difficulty with one or more senses so we have designed the garden so everyone can enjoy the garden and immerse themselves in a calming and relaxing environment. We often chill out in the sensory garden at lunch time as the bees buzz around us, the water trickles down to the pond and the smell of flowers wafts in the breeze.
These are a few of the types of flowers and plants we intend to grow from seed or plant in the sensory garden this summer: cosmos, agastache, echium, sweet peas, monarda, parsley, coriander, sambucus ‘black lace’, sunflowers, larkspur, nasturtium and verbascum. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the bright colour mixes that we aim to incorporate.
