This is part two reviewing making a sensory garden for a person with
sight loss. As I explained in Reviewing Sensory Garden For A Person With Sight Loss Part One my husband is having to adjust to losing his sight and we are both
learning how to handle this development.
So I have been looking into how to have a garden that will be beautiful,
fun and interesting and safe as his sight declines and how I need to change
my gardening style.
There are always five elements when making a garden and these revolve
around the five senses.
We covered Smell, Hearing and Touch in part one.
In part Two we concentrate on Sight, Taste and Safety.
We are very much working together on this project and we aim to retain as
much of my husbands independence and gardening skills as possible
too.
In this article we will be using the terms sight impaired, blind, low
vision, partially sighted and sight loss as these are the current
acceptable terms in my country for people with sight loss. This may change
over time and be different in different countries. No offence is intended by
any of these terms.
Sense Of Sight -Colour and Light
Now it might seem odd to include sight in a garden for people with sight
loss. However my husband and many other people with sight loss, severe sight
impaired and partially sighted will have some useful sight.
It will be a case of finding out what sort of useful vision they have, what
if any colour they can see easily and what if any leaf shapes they can
visualise. The best way to do this is to work with them, visit other
gardens, check what they can see in terms of plants and shrubs.
So with my husband we started by checking which colours he likes and can
see easily. This may be different for other people.
These for him are red, yellow, purple and white so we will concentrate on
these colours especially for check points around the garden. For example yellow daffodils, red geum, white snowdrops, red bottlebrush,
purple clematis. We may include other colours, but these will be secondary
to him.
For my husband colour contrast is important so we need to work that in for
example a red poppy against a white wall is more easily visible.
In terms of how the plants look we discussed having at least some plants
with large leaf forms or bold shapes so that he can use these as anchor
plants whether they are in flower or not.
For example:-
Tree Peony
Bamboo
Small round shaped conifers.
Tall columular conifers
Elephant ears
We also discussed light in the garden. We have security lights but also
would like softer mood lighting for dusk.
While we would love real candles, they are not perhaps the safest choice
for a person with limited sight.
So we agreed on
safe flameless outdoor candles and string lights to use when we are out there at dusk. We will turn these
off when we go in so as not to confuse wildlife.
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Sense Of Taste
We did not think there would be food to taste all year round, yet it will
still be an important element. Many of these plants also have scent.
It is crucial that I do not include anything poisonous, an irritant or just
ill tasting. Accidents can happen when you touch poisonous plants and we
cannot risk this.
So in terms of positive tastes we intend growing a lot of herbs and salad
crops. As we hope to have an allotment we wont be growing lots of veg or
fruit in the garden but smaller edible plants are welcome.
We have grown
vegetables in outdoor containers before and will continue to do this.
So we will grow:-
Different mint varieties such as chocolate mint and peppermint. These will
be in separate pots as they can be invasive and take over a whole
bed.
sage
rosemary
curry plant
distinctive salad leaf crops such as rocket.
baby carrots in tall pots
radish
Strawberries
Fennel
Safety In The Garden
Gardens needs to be safe for every person and there are some specific
considerations when you are design for a sight impaired or severe sight
impaired person.
We mentioned previously to avoid any plants that can be poisonous just in
case they are touched. Also to avoid any that can be irritants such as
euphorbia plants
To avoid very prickly plants such as prickly Holly , pyracantha unless they
can be positioned at the back of a border where it is difficult to touch
them.
Flat ground is easier for my husband now. As he is new to sight loss he
still finds steps a bit of a barrier I need to help him with so we will be
aiming for a flat garden if possible. If we do have steps then I think we
will need a
handrail. Also the
steps need to be highlighted in some way with a different colour or
texture.
Any ponds should be highlighted in some way depending on the level of
sight. So for some a border of a different material around the pond will be
enough to know to avoid it, others may feel happier with a grid over the
water so falling in is not an option.
For other people a pond in the ground is not desirable but perhaps a raised
pond in an old barrel made waterproof would be a good option.
Trip hazards are something we need to avoid as my husband has already had a
couple of falls over things he did not see. So the aim is to have
raised beds but a
little higher than normal so that he can feel them with his hands. A low
below the knee height is no good as they will just be another trip hazard,
they need to be higher.
This also achieves that scented plants will be at a better level rather
than having to bend down all the time. If necessary we can also paint
them different colours or at least the top section a distinctive colour so
that he can see more easily.
For him the ground needs to be flat as possible. A lawn is fine and we
would still like some lawn, but we will probably go for more paved areas in
large slabs that have some grip and do not get slippery in wet
weather.
So with a little planning and discussing the needs of the person I do
believe it is perfectly possible to make and maintain a beautiful garden.
When we take into account smell, hearing, touch, taste and safety, which
should be cornerstones of making any garden we can make a lovely garden
suitable for someone with sight loss and beautiful in every
respect.
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Reviewing Sensory Garden For A Person With Sight Loss Part One
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