Design brief:
The aim of this project was to create a sensory garden for visitors to Haddo House Estate near Tarves in Aberdeenshire. The previous sensory garden had fallen into disrepair and was being revitalised by a volunteer group, Friends of Haddo Country Park. We took on the design as a volunteer. We worked with the volunteers to come up with a design which they could build on their volunteer days and sourced plants for them and helped with the planting.
The design:
The sensory garden is close to the entrance car park to Haddo Estate. It is South West facing but with lots of mature trees so some areas were partial and dark shade and some areas were in sun. The plants needed to be fully hardy and suit the conditions of the different areas of the garden. At the centre of the garden is a pond which was emptied, dug out and relined by the volunteers as part of the project. The volunteers also built raised beds which are wheelchair accessible and were filled with sensory plants for all the senses – sight, smell, taste, texture and hearing. The volunteers also created a stumpery for shade loving plants, a willow maze in an area of the garden which was quite boggy, a pergola for outdoor learning sessions, bug hotels for pollinators and a sensory path which visitors can walk on barefoot. The space had to be low maintenance as it was being maintained by the volunteers. Plants kindly supplied by Solstice Nurseries.
Before
The Design
After (Landscaping and planting by Friends of Haddo Country Park, plants supplied by Solstice Nurseries)
