15/06/2025
Sensory Gardens.
In 2003 I engaged employment at a religion based retirement village that incorporated all aspects of aged care. Based in Western Sydney.
As part of my job as Head gardener I led a small but dedicated group of gardeners who kept the grounds ticking over, so visitors and residents could enjoy their surrounds.
A task came to me to create a sensory garden for those residents in an enclosed area set out for beautiful people afflicted with memory loss either by old age, dementia or any other disease that could happen to anyone. God forbid.
So I did my research and came up with a planting list that included plants that could be interacted with by touch, smell or visual stimulation.
It was a success and it was a real buzz to provide that for them.
It provided means for another local garden competition win ,to back up the one I'd been instrumental in the year before at a RAAF base.
Winning is not everything, just the joy that a hard worked garden provides is generally enough. To staff and in this case to residents because they feel part of it because it's their home. That to me is what gardening is, Joy .
