Introduction what is a sensory Garden

This blog has been compiled as part of my third year Occupational Therapy course for the paper Transition to practise.I see this blog as an area to collate all useful information in modifying gardens i.e. sensory gardens and how these environments can stimulate occupation. I will be providing as many possible links and extra information as possible and I implore people to add or make comments .

Before we start heres some basics on sensory integration.

‘Sensory Processing’ As Champagne (2011) states it  is the neurological process by which we all take in and integrate the sensory information from our own bodies & the world around us.

This process allows us to provide meaning to the sensory information we receive and to produce responses appropriate to ourselves, the task and the environment in which we function.
 The majority of us are born with the capacity to receive sensory information and organise it effortlessly into appropriate behavioural and physiological responses.
 Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a condition as the SPD foundation (2012) point out on their site that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioural problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.

 For more information on this subject here's a Link to spd foundation  www.spdfoundation.net

 Sensory Processing Disorder  retrieved on 25th june 2012 from ://youtu.be/6O6Cm0WxEZAtube.

   Champagne, T. (2011). Sensory modulation and environments: Essential   elements of occupation (3rd ed.). Australia: Pearson Australia Group Pty  Ltd.
 Cooper Marcus and Barnes (1999) state gardens can be healing and restorative via a number of mechanisms and that its  most obvious element  is the aesthetic of nature."That is creating a beautiful verdant place that will be a powerful enticement to go outdoors, being outdoors, experiencing sunlight ,vowing trees and flowers .listening to the sounds of a waterfall can have measurable stress reducing effects"(Cooper Marcus and Barnes,1999 p.54).

These healing effects can be enhanced by design effects and can be optimally used in sensory gardens.
School11.jpg retrieved on 20 /07/2012 from  mmlandscapedesign.co.nz

 What is a sensory garden: It is a garden created with the intention to provide a range of sensory experiences within a close proximity. Generally, items included are plants of varying textures, colours and scents, water fountains, sprinklers, chimes, and lighting to create a soothing environment. The garden can be individualised to target specific senses such as sight, sound, touch, smell ,proprioception and taste.The key to remember is that the garden should naturally stimulate all of the senses and to aim it for the people that will use it.

References

Champagne (2011). Sensory modulation and environments:Essential elements of occupation (3rd ed),Austrailia:Pearson Austrailia group.

Marcus,C,C.Barnes,M.(1999). Healing gardens:thereupeutic and design recommendations.New Jersey,USA:John wiley & sons ltd.

Sensory processing foundation retrieved on 20/07/12 from www.spdfoundation.net.

Champagne , T. (2011). Sensory modulation and environments: Essential   elements of occupation (3rd ed.). Australia: earson Australia Group

Designing your sensory garden

In this post I will outline aspects that need to be taken into account when designing a sensory garden, and leave resources if you need to look into this further.

The main thing to remember is to design the garden for the individual or population that will be using it and to remember the needs you have  for the garden, a place to relax in, work in, play in (or combination of) .





sensory garden perspective.jpgretrieved on the 20/07/2012 from byrdlandscapedesign.com 








Design the garden to keep distractions to a minimum. If space is not an issue, create a variety of specialised areas to accommodate a wide variety of therapeutic needs the child may have such as an area for sensory integration activities, another for gross and fine motor skills, and a free-play area.

Gardens are natural multisensory environments; however sensory gardens are planned to maximise the sensory components of the garden (Fowler,Pagliano, 2008).When designing a garden  we need to look into the different senses and how it is useful for the individual

Sight Naturally a garden visually stimulates  use soft colours ,different colours to divide different areas.This can be useful for giving different reasons to relax, stimulate, get shade and  be away from others .This can be done by hedges archway paths.patterns as stoneham points out can be important in helping children to learn to identify different objects and can inspire art, brick work, paving cobbles bark variegated leaves.
when looking at the shape of plents it is good to choose simple distinctive shapes.
Stoneham (19996) suggested
leaves sycamore ,ash
Fruits:apples ,berries
Flowers :daisy ,poppy
Paving ,Hexagon squares    
 Colour can be used in many ways i.e planting grouping of single coloured flowers to create a visual border as (red and Yellow easiest to see by the visually impaired Another way is to plant calming colours.
the shapes of plants are another.
Smell Norfolk argues a therapeutic garden needs to be subtle in its use of perfume although it cannot afford to be too restrained because of the weakness of our olfactory sense.
Many plants imitate curry plant,winter honeysuckle mock orange.
Activated scents which are released when plant pars are crushed (culinary herbs).I myself believe lemon verbena lemon balm welsh onions pineapple sage.
Sound. Norfolk argued One great virtue of a garden is that it takes us away from the clangour of today's cities and gives us a chance once more to listen to the thrush ,the humming of the bees,the rustle of the aspen leaves and the trickle of water cascading from a fountain.
Other sounds that are found in sensory gardens can be wind chimes and naturally plants that attract birds
Marcus and Barnes(1999).  point out that negative sounds should be eliminated as much as possible. Intrusive sounds  such as machinery,traffic are all considered negative distractions in a healing garden and should therefore be excluded from  gardens or masked with the sound of water,screened with vegetation, or a different location should be chosen for the healing garden.

Listening in the garden is a good way of calming people and tuning them to their environment .I myself when working with children living with autism have noticed them stop and listen to birds etc i wouldn't have noticed.As Stoneham (1996) points out worth looking at both natural sounds and ones that can be activated by the gardens users i.e splashing the water hitting chimes and sound sculptures.Stoneham (1996)" sound fences,activated by dragging a stick along a series of tubing or piping can be melodious and fun" (p. 42).

 

 Brookfields 626 JPG retreived on 24/06/12 from Brookfield school .org.

TouchProviding a variety of interesting tactile experiences from rough bark to light touch i.e plants that have have furry leave feather like petals.This is an element that gives sensory areas a different look i.e having plants at different heights or trees with interesting bark next to the path.As Fowler and paglianna (2008) point out gardens can have different surfaces to walk on and can use sensory walls and piping and mosaics.
 orthopaedic 01.jpg retrieved on 25/06/12 from google images


As Stoneham (1996) points out there are many factors to make it interesting
 i.e

Weight : light sawdust heavy clay.
Temperture: sun warmed water cold stones next to it.
Wet and dry: moist and dry soil.
Objects that contain simple shapes circular flowers cubical fruits.
Contrasting densities: moss next to hard stone.

Tasting as  Stoneham  1996 states "taste can be a useful way of demonstrating where food comes from and showing the children the link between growing and eating" .(p41).Naturally there needs to be caution here for children  with the risk of people eating unidentified plants i have always encouraged this in separate controllable areas.

Vestibular rhythmic singing slow rocking .

Proprioception activities that are rhythmic offer resistance pushing pulling sand water.e swings hammerlock statues for climbing .I will be looking more into the vestibular and proprioception when i look into activities that can be initiated in a garden including work and play.

To get more information from the experts have a look at the following links

  www.mcchesney.co.nz An amazing local blog by a chritchurch horticultural therapist she has amazing link great newsletters and has been very helpful when contacted.

 www.communityrestorationtrust.com/horticulturetherapy.html  An interesting Nz community garden with sensory components

 http://www.palmerstonnorth.com/Leisure/Activities/GardensAndEcoRecreation/Detail.aspx?id=23079  This is a new zealand based therepeutic hospital garden

 Amazing website and blog with an affinity of information anecdotal to libraries (especially good for

Alzheimers)http://www.healinglandscapes.org/blog/category/sensory-gardens/

 This is especially aimed at making gardens accesible for physical disabilities has some beautiful creative ideas.accessiblegardens.blogspot.com/.../components-of-accessible-garden.

References 

Fowler, S & Pagliano,P (2008). Multisensory rooms and environments:Controlled Sensory experiences for people with profound and multiple disabilities.London, U.K:Jessica Kingsley Publishers.


 Norfolk, D. (2000). The therapeutic garden. London, U.K: Transworld publishers.

Stoneham, J .(1996). Grounds for sharing : A guide to developing special school sites .Winchester ,England:Learning through landscape trust.

More ideas when designing a sensory garden

Paths  The design of the path can be vitally important in a sensory either as a sensory aspect thick gravel , mosaic etc.As  Stoneham (1996) states.Aspects of path design ,such as width,change in direction,branching slopes and ability to see a  destination or end point influence speed of travel and  sense of mystery and invitation (p41)

Here's an interesting sensory path way at Dunwoody school taking the children from activity to activity.http://vimeo.com/15951479


 hers some more beautiful paths from
www.schoolplaygrounddesigners.co.uk/Sensory-Gardens.html

Sunlight and shade also need to be looked into  while most people benefit from the sun some are light sensitive and others may be on medication s that may cause the patient to have increased sensitivity to the sun.Therefore a shady area is always needed by canopy's trees vine covered trellis etc

   Retrieved on 28/06/12 from www.schoolplaygrounddesigners.co.uk/Sensory-Gardens.htm

 

Posted by David A at 16:06 No comments:

Sensory play in the outdoor environment

Here's a garden that has been designed for different areas for differnt activities and games. 

 

retrieved on  20/07/2012 from http://youtu.be/SjVZvXNw9xc

Although the information in the last page has been broader and can be used for different client groups, I am going to primarily aim this posting on play for people with sensory processing disorder.The environment can relax a child and give them the right impetus to initiate activities and PLAY!!!!. 

retrieved on the 20/07/2012 from http://youtu.be/tiOmFrGDn_

As Etherington (2007) points out out many children are specially sensitive to sensory conditions i.e sound ,light ,etc.A classroom is full of some rather smelly loud children with overhead fluorescent lighting.This is not conducive for this child and outside is a break from this sensory onslaught.

Play and Development Include opportunities for the child to develop gross motor skills and exercise large muscle groups by adding objects for climbing such as large boulders, stumps, nets, a balancing beam or a horizontal ladder resting on the ground, and stepping stones placed several inches apart for jumping and 'giant steps'.

To help increase upper body strength be sure to include a rope swing, rings or a short horizontal bar. A separate grassy area is good for running and active games.

Kissel and Luby (2006) suugests that the child during play explores and manipulates objects, which helps them to  become aware of function and meaning. Therfore as the child learns the use for these objects and attributes meaning to them, he/she is able to determine relationships between them and assign them to various categories.

This environment creates a stimulating environment for the occupational therapist to create educative fun PLAY!!!

Art023.JPG retrievead 28/06/2012 fromgreenowlart.blogspot.com

Following ideas adpated from  Carol Stock Kranowitz ‘s The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Integrative Dysfunction

Sensory Garden play  for the Hyper-responsive Child. These children  may need to be graded to sensory input i.e sunglasses due to their high sensitivity.They may need to have small amounts of time in the garden until they are able to concentrate

the sensory activities can be graded at an appropriate level for the child.

Sensory Garden play for the Hypo-responsive Child. these children are the opposite and will require a great deal of sensory stimulation. Strong fragrances like mint and tea-tree can stimulate.

 

 Art059.JPG retrievead 28/06/2012 fromgreenowlart.blogspot.com

Sensory garden play for the sensory seeking child.This child can be very distracted alternating play with diversionary heavy work duties can keep this child focused:i.e pulling pushing items to and from the garden.

messy play such as mud pies paint foam bubbles incorporated with calming scents will work best.

To stimulate the proprioceptive system the use of an obstacle course increases proprioceptive input and helps to develop motor planning.  Swings, slides, and climbing equipment offer unlimited opportunities

This fun site interactively gives you suggestions http://www.sensoryworld.org/explore-spring.html

heres some sensory water obstacle course ideas.

 retrieved from on 20/07/2012 from http://youtu.be/8e-80jUi4WY

Kissel, D,kos& Luby, L,. (2006) argue some of the skills children develop through play in the garden are:

• interpersonal skillscommunicating workin as part of a team
• body awareness
• using bothsides of their bodies for pulling ,pushing raking etc
• motor balance-being stable while carrying .lifting and loading objects
• coordianation 
• occur training from scanning for bird ,butterflys 

heres some more useful links
www.autism4parents.org/Community_Sensory_Garden.html Autism site looking into designing

            www.thrive.org.uk  Great english site

References 

Kissel, D, & Luby, L,. (2006). Kultivating Kids! Garden Therapy That Helps All Kids.USA,Bulls eye production.

Kranowitz,C., (2005).  The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory integration dysfunction,Washington ,USA :Perigree.

Posted by David A at 20:42 No comments:

work in the sensory outdoor environment

Another important way to stimulate the proproceptive system  in an out door environment is the use of tasks that involve heavy work patterns i.e  planting vegetables  raking digging ,turning over compost they also help overall muscle development stimulate the proprioceptive system.  The following horticulture tasks involve heavy work patterns that provide increased overall muscle development,and (frequently) enhance self-esteem when an individual finishes a product: gardening, planting vegetables, raking, digging, or turning over compost.  

 As Etherington (2007) argued "Working out side focuses on initiation and spontaneity following  the persons focus of attention and motivation in a natural environment  .The garden becomes your out door classroom to teach life skills "( p.22)
heres a link to an blog interviewing  etherington she has some fantastic ways of engaging people with autism in the garden www.jkp.com/blog/.../interview-natasha-etherington-gardening-for-c...
A fun moment at the composting area in my prevous work.
 
retrieved fromwww.tiphereth.org.uk on 28th June 2012

				When I was working in Scotland for a conservation outdoor  group with learning  difficulties  .Most people we worked with had sensory processing disorders especially on the autism spectrum.Most of the people that worked in this group were not able to do others groups and often inside would sensorly overload.

But working in the out side environment people were able to concentrate more
The day had routines starting with a chat and songs.
The hard work was integrated with fun things like swimming and basket weaving
The work was tailored to the individuals
A good example of this was the community compost .
Digging routine turning compost lots of wheelbarrowing .
All of the activities social interaction was promoted although appropriate social skills was always taught in the group often done in the circle in the end of the day.As Etheringto(2007) engaing in this way in a nature setting will help the child learn  positive  social patterns  and provide  the skills to see how the world works and learn skills transferable to other settings ,such as gripping manging behaviours while gaining mastery of activities which lead to improve self esteem.

Health, Well-being and Social Inclusion was a study conducted in 2005  in Britain on 24 garden projects with 137 clients 88 project staff and 11 health professionals being interviewed by Sempik, Aldridge and Becker(

As Sempik, Aldridge and Becker( 2005) found   The environment in all of these studies took on special personal meaning such as a sense of ownership i.e. “your own privatespace” or a place of healing.

Participation in garden projects increased clients’ feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence. Self-esteem was increased, for example, by the status associated with being a project participant and hence a ‘gardener’ or ‘worker’.

Increased self-confidence was demonstrated in clients’ willingness to undertake many different activities. They recognised and acknowledged their own competence in those tasks and gained satisfaction from successfully completing tasks and possessing the necessary skills for them. 

Garden projects offer clients the opportunity to engage in a regular, structured form of outdoor physical activity. Many of the tasks, such as digging , require the exertion of substantial effort. Clients reported that they felt better, both physically and psychologically, when attending projects and attributed this to their participation.

One theory that looks into the benefits of projects like these is that of the ‘restorative environment’. Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) argue that mental fatigue arises as a result of the effort involved in inhibiting competing influences when attention is directed towards a specific task. The view or experience of nature which is inherently interesting or stimulating invokes involuntary attention which requires no effort and is therefore restorative.cited by  (p.4 ) Sempik, Aldridge and Becker (2003)

There are four elements in this theory as pointed out by Sempik, Aldridge and Becker (2003)

Being away This can be seen as an escape from part of life that is usually present and not preferred

Fascination is the ability for something to hold attention without use of effort can be derived from the process or activities performed

Extent is involved with the environment providing a feeling of being in another world that is ordered.

Compatibility relates to an affinity with the environment or activity to motivate the individual without directed attention.
References 
Joe Sempik, Jo Aldridge and Saul Becker (2003) Horticulture as Therapy: from Benjamin Rush to the present day ,Loughborough,UK.

Etherington, N. (2007) Gardening for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Special London ,England:Jessica Kingsley publishers

Summary

Thank you for looking at this blog I have really enjoyed the research into this project it is an area that fascinates me and one that I would love to specialise in being an occupational therapist.
I have tried to compile a blog that strikes an interest and gives resources if people are looking to use gardens in a sensory way.
I have enjoyed looking into work that I have done in the past and using an occupational and sensory integration lense to this.By using the skills we have learnt as occupational therapists and using sensory integration we will be able to assess the appropriate garden either highly personalised for someones home or with a more generalised feel for a group i.e school,dementia unit.
There seems a host of opportunities using skills from sensory integration and horticultural therapy but honing that therapy into our more specific domain of occupation.
Naturally while learning new knowledge and approaching it from an evidenced based perspective it makes me think of past experiences.My last job was working in a busy small unit for learning difficulties in a high school .Naturally every child had a different sensory make up some being loud some being sensitive .Although we had a garden we could have easily installed a number of item to make it into a healing place to get away to relax,compose yourself .
By individualizing gardens for clients using the basic you can create a relaxing area and or one that it is a stimulating place that inspires engagement in occupation ,which naturally we all do. I remember my gardens before being married completely focused on herbs and vegetable.The gardens started  taking on a more sensory  role when I shared gardens with my partner ,and then  the gardens changed with children leaving the wilder places so they could play the natural integration of the sandpit and trampoline and tree swings.The gardens that were designed as a relaxing place to work and with tasting have now been based for the group norm.

garden or assault course ,depends on your age

                                    you can,t beat bringing out the swings this garden in motueka had a great water slide for the kids
Dsc03383-86 retrieved from David Armstrong personal pictures




Although it does seem I have always understood the basic with different principles i.e. areas for different things and paths leading to them .Working in a busy school program even the garden we had was some where .
      retrieved on 20/07/2012 from bostonpublicschools.org  






heres  acouple of realy useful  links to my last resources  - Centre for Child and FamilyResearch
www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ccfr/.../growingtogethergrainmembers.htmgreat free doanloadable  articles  network of ots and hort therapists  
  //Majordomo@lists.lboro.ac.uk  A great list of different professionals and interested people in different area of gardening therapy .Once joined you can find people with similar areas of interest.
www.waioratrust.co.nz  This is an interesting canterbury project.
www.autism4parents.org/Community_Sensory_Garden.html  - Cached Autism blog looking into sensory gardens 
www.thrive.org.uk  Great english site


I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog if any one has any suggestions how i can improve it please feel free to comment
 Happy gardening.
retrieved on 20/07/2012 from 1347220‑2472‑Royalty‑Free‑Ha