A garden for all the senses

It is common to find that when a landscape is designed, the key element or overriding factor considered is the visual aesthetics of the space, regardless of the type of flora chosen or the landscape used. This conceptualization of a garden where the appeal is centered on the visual stems from the general opinion that aesthetics is only concerned with one sensory aspect.

This view was challenged by the presentation made by agronomist and landscape architect Prabhakar Rao on sensory gardens at the recent Designuru 3.0, an initiative of the Institute of Indian Interior Designers, Bengaluru Chapter. In his keynote, moderated by Assocham GEM, Karnataka Chapter at the design festival, he talked about gardens appealing to the five senses rather than just visual appeal.

Cassia fistula pods

According to him, a garden should respond to the senses of hearing, touch, smell and taste as well as sight. “Currently, 90% of the garden’s content is visual, 8% caters to fragrant varieties and satisfies the sense of smell, 1.5% caters to the taste buds, and just 0.5% satisfies the sense of touch. As for the sense of hearing, it sucks,” he said.

Spilanthes acmella

He took the audience on a journey through a range of native plants, which included herbs and medicinal plants that would prove to be a treat for all five senses. “A garden should be experiential and for that it should appeal to all five senses. You should be able to hear, taste, smell, touch as well as see the beauty of the greens, where a walk through the landscape turns out to be an experience rejuvenating for the five senses,” he explained.

Woodfordia fruticosa

For example, one would never consider a choice of flora to put music in a garden. Yet there are plants that can do just that, and together they can deliver nature’s orchestra. So there might be bamboos that rattle and hiss when the breeze catches it, but others that create a popping sound like acacia pods exploding, or that make Cassia’s fistula ring like wooden chimes. . “The rhythm created by these feeds the sense of hearing,” he says.

Major crash

Likewise, the sense of touch is an important sensory experience and the textures of different plant species provide this varied sensory experience. “The Byzantine Stachys or Lamb’s Ear as it is commonly known is a fantastic ground cover and so soft to the touch that it invites you to interact with it. Likewise the ‘touch me not’ plant responds to touch and initiates an interaction.”

Plants that delight the taste buds turn out to be an experience of a different kind, with some leaving an almost unforgettable experience. “There are a number of medicinal plants and herbs that stimulate the taste buds while proving to be a cure for a disease,” he said. While some of the commonly chosen edible varieties are betel leaf, Brahmi plant, and spearmint, there are also others that can leave a tingling sensation on the tongue long after tasting, rendering the sense of taste quite unforgettable.

Become a native

A fragrant garden is a common choice for many, with lilies and jasmine varieties topping the list. Sense of sight or visual appeal is also most sought after in a garden, although it is not always the native varieties that are chosen to meet this experience, Rao argues. “We have such a rich repertoire of native plants that you just have to delve into it and choose. And most of these native plants, in addition to addressing one of the five senses, also turn out to be plants medicinal or herbs that can be used,” he added.

According to Rao, native plants are also compatible with local fauna, conserving their species by serving as fodder. He pointed to the decrease or virtual disappearance of the population of green parrots in the city due to the disappearance of the flora that served as their food. “Some of them also serve as insect repellents, while others like the lion-like Adhatoda keep livestock at bay,” he added.