Sensory Garden from Seed: Plants for All Five Senses

The short version: A sensory garden gives every plant a job: something to see, smell, touch, taste or hear. Sow zinnias for colour, lavender and basil for scent, lamb's ear and everlasting daisies for touch, snap peas and alpine strawberries for tasting, and nigella pods and dried gourds that rattle. Raise beds to hand height, keep paths firm and wide, leave out seriously poisonous and stinging plants, and keep sharp ones out of reach.

Pinch a lavender spike and the scent stays on your fingers for the whole walk. A sensory garden is planted around moments like that.

It makes a good summer school-holiday project, and suits a grandparent who can no longer kneel, a child with low vision or a parent living with dementia.

Plan the layout first

Beds at hand height. For a gardener in a wheelchair, aim for about 60 cm high, with the centre no more than about 60 cm from the edge. See building raised garden beds for timber and fill.
Firm, wide paths. At least 1 m clear, as the Australian access standard sets, with passing bays 1.8 m wide and 2 m long. Keep them level, non-slip and free of glare, and save crunchy gravel for a side patch.
Breathing space. Space strong scents apart, and leave one quiet corner with a seat.

Gardener in a wheelchair working at raised timber garden beds — A bed about 60 cm high, beside a firm path at least 1 m wide, lets a seated gardener reach the plants.

Sight: bold colour and strong contrast

For low vision, Vision Australia recommends bright, plain colours against a contrasting background, so white alyssum beside pale paving is easy to miss. Sow Zinnia 'Orange King' and giant single sunflowers for big colour; growing sunflowers from seed compares the types. For lasting colour, rainbow silverbeet stems run from crimson to yellow and feed the kitchen too.

Smell: scent at the path edge

Plant aromatic herbs where passing hands release the oils. English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) 'Munstead' is slow from seed, usually flowering in its second summer, and hates wet feet; see lavender from seed. Cinnamon basil carries a note of cinnamon and anise, and spearmint belongs in a pot because it spreads. In a side patch, Roman chamomile smells of apple when walked on, and creeping thyme can fill gaps between stepping stones. Keep pots of herbs by the seat too; see culinary windowsill herbs. Once it flowers, English lavender covers four senses: colour, scent, soft spikes and a culinary flower.

Touch: woolly, papery and fluffy

Put sturdy plants at the front, where hands go first, with a smooth stone or timber edge for contrast. Lamb's ear has thick, silver, felted leaves, but humid summers often rot it, so give it a raised bed or pot from Brisbane north. Everlasting daisies feel like paper and keep their shape when dried (see our everlasting daisy guide). Globe amaranth makes papery thimbles that draw butterflies, sage has textured silvery leaves, and 'Teddy Bear' sunflowers carry fluffy heads on plants 40 to 60 cm tall.

Close view of the woolly, silver-green leaves of lamb's ear — Lamb's ear is the classic touch plant: thick, silver, felted leaves at the front of the bed.

Taste: one marked bed for nibbling

Keep tasting plants in one labelled bed, and seriously poisonous plants out of the whole garden. Choose small mouthfuls:

Sugar snap pea 'Sugar Ann', a 50 cm bush type for a raised bed, sown from April, or August in cool and alpine gardens. We do not send pea seed to Tasmania.
Alpine strawberry 'Mignonette', which forms clumps without runners, so it stays put as an edging.
Cucamelon, with tiny, tangy fruit that taste of cucumber.
Viola tricolor flowers and calendula petals. Skip nasturtium near bushland and in South Australia, whose environment department advises against it.

Sound: seed heads, rustling leaves and bees

Seed heads. Nigella pods rattle when dry, so leave half the patch to set pods. It is not the cooking spice and can upset a stomach if eaten, so grow it away from the tasting bed. A tiny bottle gourd, left until the vine dies back, then dried in a shed for a few months, rattles like a shaker.
Papery pods. Honesty is a biennial that flowers after its first winter, then sets flat pods; rubbing off their skins to reveal silver discs suits small fingers. Near bushland, cut pods before they shed seed.
Rustling leaves. A block of popcorn rustles in a breeze (we do not send corn seed to Western Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory). Corn is a wind-pollinated grass, which Asthma Australia names as a major hay fever trigger, so keep it away from the seat. Lemongrass rustles too, but its leaf edges can cut, so plant it at the back, out of reach.
Bees and birds. Lavender hums with bees, so set it back from the seat if anyone is allergic to stings. Sunflower heads and a shallow bird bath bring birds in. Add a wind chime, and for water, a bubbler rather than an open pond.

Dried, papery love-in-a-mist seed pods — Nigella pods rattle once they dry, so leave part of the patch to set seed.

When to sow, zone by zone

These windows come from our What to Sow Now calendar. Our guide to planning a year in the vegie patch shows how to use them. Zones are broad groupings, so between two, lean on local cues such as your last frost.

Tropical (Darwin in the Northern Territory, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland, Broome in Western Australia). Sow in the dry season: sunflowers, zinnias, gourds, nigella and everlasting daisies from April, and lamb's ear in April or May as a trial in pots. Basil goes in any month, lemongrass from September to January. English lavender rots in the wet.

Subtropical (Brisbane and south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales). Sow lavender, lamb's ear, honesty, nigella and everlasting daisies from March to May. Sunflowers, zinnias, globe amaranth and basil go in from August.

Arid and semi-arid (Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Broken Hill in New South Wales, Mildura in Victoria, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia). Sow lavender, nigella, honesty and lamb's ear from March, and everlasting daisies in April or May. After the last frost, from September, sow sunflowers, zinnias, gourds and basil, and mulch deeply.

Temperate (Sydney and the New South Wales coast, Melbourne in Victoria). Sow nigella and honesty from February, and lavender, lamb's ear and everlasting daisies from March, or again in spring. From September to January, sow sunflowers, zinnias, basil and globe amaranth; Melbourne waits until late October for zinnias.

Mediterranean (Perth and southern Western Australia, Adelaide in South Australia). After the autumn break, from March to May, sow everlasting daisies, nigella, honesty, lavender and lamb's ear. From September to January, sow sunflowers, zinnias, basil and globe amaranth.

Cool and alpine (Tasmania, Canberra in the ACT, Ballarat in Victoria, Orange and Armidale in New South Wales, Stanthorpe in Queensland). Sow lavender, lamb's ear, honesty and everlasting daisies from September. After the last frost, sow sunflowers, zinnias and gourds from October to December and basil from October to January, starting all but the sunflowers under cover.

Plants to leave out

Poisonous if eaten: foxglove, larkspur, delphinium, lily of the valley, lobelia, chincherinchee, oleander, angel's trumpet and castor oil plant, plus the milkweeds swan plant and red-headed cotton bush. The Victorian Poisons Centre list of plants that can seriously harm children has more.
Blister, sting or cut: rue, whose sap blisters skin in sunlight; stinging nettle; euphorbias, whose milky sap can badly injure an eye; and cacti and thorny roses within reach.
Not for eating: rhubarb leaves (eat the cooked stalks) and ornamental and craft gourds, shakers included, which stay out of the tasting bed.
Look-alikes: sweet peas, whose seeds look like garden peas but are not food.

Teach one rule: tasting happens in the tasting bed, with a grown-up, washed hands and rinsed produce. If anyone swallows part of a plant, call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 without waiting for symptoms, or 000 if they collapse or struggle to breathe.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good school holiday sensory project?

A pot each of basil, which can be sown in January in every zone, and 'Teddy Bear' sunflowers, which flower in 8 to 12 weeks. Sow the sunflowers by January in subtropical, arid, temperate and Mediterranean gardens, or by December in cool and alpine ones.

How long until a sensory garden from seed is ready?

Basil, sunflowers and everlasting daisies give a show in about 8 to 14 weeks. Lamb's ear needs about 23 weeks to make leafy clumps, honesty flowers after its first winter, and lavender usually in its second summer.

What does a sensory garden for someone living with dementia need?

Victoria's Department of Health suggests a walking loop with shade and seats, even-coloured paths with contrasting edges, raised beds, and herbs and vegetables near the seats. Choose non-toxic plants and keep gates secure.

Can I make a sensory garden in pots?

Yes. Pots of basil, spearmint, a dwarf sunflower, alpine strawberries and violas beside a chair cover four senses. Pots on wheels can follow the sun.

Start with one bed and five packets, then follow whatever your visitors reach for first.

Related growing guides

Browse our flower seeds and herb seeds to stock each bed.