A Garden's Design Should Be a Treat for the Senses
FRAGRANCE
Be greeted by the aroma of sweet alyssums in a hanging basket by the front door in summer or Korean spice viburnum blooms by your patio in April. Hybrid tea roses are widely grown for their fragrant flowers. Native deciduous "lemon drop" azaleas (Rhododendron viscosum) are knockouts in June and July for their spicy, fragrant blossoms loved by butterflies. Lilacs are in bloom now and stand as a testament to our preference for sweet-smelling flowers, since they have been cultivated for more than 435 years, primarily because of fragrant blooms.
Flowers aren't the only way to create fragrance in the garden, though. On a hot summer day, touch the foliage of lavender, rosemary or thyme, and it will fill the air with incense. The oils of these plants will lightly coat your fingers so you can breathe the fresh smell as you stroll in the garden.
Lavender, rosemary and thyme--as well as mint--are not only fragrant, they are also heavenly to work with and easy to grow, and they add ornamental value.
Lavender holds its silvery to blue-green foliage through winter and is a great accent plant for the front of your perennial or shrub border. This is the classic sweet-smelling perennial that herbalists and aromatherapists recommend you use as an oil on your skin to relax or get rid of headaches.
Most mints are too invasive to grow among other ornamentals. Golden or variegated mints will work wonderfully as perennial container plantings. Corsican mint (mentha requienii) is only half an inch high, has a strong peppermint fragrance and thrives in any nook and cranny of a rock wall, patio, steps or a knothole.
Once you experience the strong fragrance of thyme and discover the number of species available, you will want to collect several. There are more than 400 recognized species, including lemon, caraway, camphor and creeping thymes. They can be planted in joints between paving or wall stones and along the front of planting beds to edge walks and patios or to cascade over the edge of a planter.
Rosemary shrubs are evergreen, flower in mild winters and beg for you to brush their fragrant foliage. They are ideal to soften the sharp line of a wall, steps or patio. The hybrid variety called Arp is one of the hardiest and can achieve shrub status in our area.
TASTE
Many proud gardeners are eager to share the "fruits" of their labor. This is true of all designed spaces, but a sampling from vegetable, fruit or herb gardens usually makes a special treat.
Originally, the term gardening referred chiefly to cultivating edible plants. If it weren't for herbal remedies and potions, medieval monks probably would never have carried the practice of cultivating gardens into modern Western culture.
The benefits and variations of edible gardening will astound you. Use tomato vines to grace a walk. Train pole beans or peas onto a trellis to create privacy around a porch in summer. Strawberries make a great edible ground cover. Grow dill to soften a bare wall and cucumbers to cover the fence.
Blueberry and currant bushes blend well with ornamental shrubs. In the natural landscape, raspberries and blackberries fit beautifully. Smaller fruit trees can be grown exclusively for flowers, but if you're willing to commit to a program to control pests and diseases, consider planting one or two fruit-bearing trees.
Bay laurel is a handsome shrub with deep evergreen foliage that is often used to flavor meats and sauces. A woody shrub that fits with any type of planting, it also offers architectural value to the garden and has the added attraction of fragrance. It is very marginal in hardiness here. Look for a species that was introduced to the trade by Brookside Gardens in Wheaton: Laurus nobilis "Sunspot." Try it in a protected moist area in partial shade.
TOUCH
With touch come pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Pleasurable ones can be subtle, such as the way the long leaves of ferns brush against your leg.
The texture of a leaf, such as lambs-ear, can be appealing to the touch. Its furry, silvery foliage makes it an outstanding plant for a perennial border. Every time I see this plant in a garden, I am tempted to reach down and pet the soft, downy leaves.
Some plants are less pleasing--even unpleasant--to touch, but you might be willing to suffer the prickle of the Chinese holly because of its extremely handsome foliage or the American holly for its pyramidal evergreen form and winter berries.
Plantings might be desired specifically for their thorny nature if, for example, your yard has become a shortcut for the after-school crowd and a well-beaten path begins to bisect your property. Then a barrier of thorny wintergreen barberry could be needed, or a thicket of hardy orange (Poncirus trifoliata) .
SOUND
Sound is usually noticed when it's a cacophony you wish to screen out, such as traffic, playgrounds or dogs, or when it is missing.
But adding sound, and training your ears to hear nature, brings a new dimension to a garden. For example, engineering a small bubble fountain or other water feature can mentally take you to an Italian piazza, or can create a quiet meditation zone where the sound of water becomes your mantra.
Sound adds a sophisticated touch. Water is possibly the most popular medium, but there are others. For example, the slightest breeze makes the thick evergreen leaves of longstalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa) produce a rustling sound
year-round.
Wind chimes are another "instrument" you may use. They are available in a wide range of materials and prices, including wood, ceramic, glass and metal. One of my favorites is made of stainless steel, which makes pipe-organ sounds when the wind blows.
Birds, insects, squirrels and other wildlife will combine with water and wind to create a symphony in the garden.
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