Urban Sensory Gardens ~Versatile Balconies

Each year we hear of communities who want chemical free landscaping. Therefore instead of treating their plot of land around their house to look like a golf green, being a slave to weakly mowing and, heaven’s forbid, watering the grass with our precious water resources, some families landscape with a sensory garden. These plants bring joy to all the senses to young and old alike.

When we were travelling in Europe, the fact that every square foot of land was put to practical uses impressed me. Our friend in a German town, had her house surrounded with fragrant flowers, edible berries growing on attractive bushes, patches of vegetables among her flowers, fruit trees providing shade for sitting and shade loving plants, bird feeders and bird baths inviting feathered friends to entertain and... not a blade of grass.

Right at her doorsteps she had plants requiring care which she lovingly bestowed and which gave her ample exercise each day. Her grandchildren gave her a helping hand and all benefited from the wonderful experience of planting, caring, exploring and eating from a sensory garden.

In a previous post, Sensory Gardens For Kids, I listed the senses and gave suggestions on which plants or accessories you could include in your garden to provide your child with a wonderful sensory experience. This post will deal with making the most of a small urban balcony, on deck and the care of the plants, especially tomatoes.

So, you only have a balcony or a small patio. When our daughter was living in a Montreal apartment, she still managed to use wisely the space on their small balcony for plants.

Many planters, in various lengths, come with hooks that attach on the balcony railing. On the side of the house a few planter bags can be hung with flowers or even strawberries. Window boxes with growing herbs can be reached from inside the house to add flavor to your meals. Then along the sides on the floor, line up larger pots containing more soil for tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and beans that will climb upwards on a support which is pushed in the soil, surrounds the plant and allows it to attach itself to the support as it grows.

Fill the planters and pots with a soil mixture and compost that contains organic fertilizers available at many garden centers or you may make your own compost by composting all winter in a container that you use for plants in the summer.

Sometimes a stake will have to be used as well to support the plants. Drive the stakes deep into the pots a week or so after planting so you do not damage the roots later on. To tie the plants to the stake, use strips of old cloth because a piece of string can cut into the stems.

The secret of successful balcony/deck/patio  planting is choosing plants that grow upwards to economize your space. Do not let the plants spread on the balcony/deck floor which can become much too hot in the summer sun. You must water daily and following the replenishing schedule of the organic fertilizer.

The tomato plants will have to be pruned. As a tomato grows, side shoots, or suckers, form in the crotches between the leaves and the main stem. If left alone, these suckers will grow just like the main stem, producing flowers and fruit but you will end up with an unruly maze of side stems and a weaker main stem. To encourage the growth of a strong main stem because it feeds the entire plant, prune all the suckers and do not tie the plants before the first flowers appear.

From then on, remove all suckers below the first cluster of flowers, leave some higher up to form a few other side stems but remember fewer the stems, fewer tomatoes but larger tomatoes.

The simplest and best time to prune the suckers is when it is still small. You do this by pinching the tender suckers off with finger and thumb. The sucker should snap off and its wound will heal quickly. If you missed a side shoot and it has grown large and tough, you must use a sharp, clean blade. This simple pruning continues all through the season.

One last pruning is necessary 30 days before the first frost. The tomato plant must be topped. To allow the last tomatoes to mature well, remove all the growing tips. Last year, just before the first frost, I picked a flat cardboard box filled with still green cherry tomatoes. We also had a basket filled with them. We left box and basket in our garage attached to the house so it does not get too cold. We would eat them as they ripened and we enjoyed the last ones for our Christmas meal!

So do not let the fact that you live in a city rob you of the joy and benefits of a sensory garden, small but prolific, right there on your balcony.

Have you had success with urban gardens?

Sensory Gardens for Kids

First it was the Sensory Box and, literally thinking outside ‘the box’, schools and families are using a sensory garden full of plants and accessories to stimulate the senses. Plants and accessories are selected on the basis they will provide experiences for seeing, smelling, hearing, touching, and tasting.

Mid-April is the perfect time to start a sensory garden for children with sensory issues so they can enjoy and be part of the garden. This project can be as small as a planter or window box to a real, backyard, walkabout garden with places to stroll and sit. The design and layout can provide a stimulating journey through the senses, heightening awareness and bringing positive learning experiences. Or on a small scale, an herb garden is a good way to start as herbs have a wealth of sensory awakening attributes.


Live in a city? See post: Urban Sensory Gardens~ Versatile Balconies. 

When I was a child growing up next door to my grandparents, one of my fondness memories is helping my grandmother with their vegetable garden. We spent hours together, sixty years of age difference apart, caring for the garden. Then while raising our three children, we always had a vegetable garden which must have left fond memories for them also as now our grown children each have their own vegetable gardens in their backyards. From buying the first seeds to eating the produce from your very own garden each step in the process is a teaching and sharing experience to the sensory child and to all children.


What plants and accessories to choose?
An objective in sensory garden design is to encourage users to interact with the plants, often directly, for instance by breaking off leaves to smell or taste. So all plants must be non-toxic, hardy and sturdy enough to withstand handling.


Touch: Chose plants that are durable enough to withstand frequent brushing or handling.

Look for textures in soft flowers, fuzzy leaves, springy moss, rough bark, succulent leaves, prickly seed pods. Enjoy the textures of sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, both types of parsley, mint.

Accessories can include rocks and sculptures in a variety of shapes, sizes and textures. Use sculpted handrails for safety and added textures.

Smell: Rosemary, sage, tarragon, fragrant creeping herbs, such as thyme, are planted among pathways, walking or wheeling on them will release their aroma intense smell like rosemary or peppermint.

Roses are a good choice in flowers if you know how to deal with ‘its’ thorny issues’.

Crushing and smelling a plant part works well.

Sight: Use plants in all shades of green foliage with various leaf shapes, and different colors of flowers. Choose colorful plants that change through the season offering a new facet with each one.

Mobiles, bird baths and sculptures can add visual stimuli as well as sunlight and shadows dancing along all surfaces.

Accessories for enhancing visual pleasure include color flood lights, torches, mirrors, and gazing globes.

Taste: Have herbs like mints and chives to provide both scent and taste opportunities. Cherry Tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, edible flowers, fruit trees and the endless vegetables will offer the taste buds an array of choices.

Hearing: Kids will hear the sound of wind rushing through the leaves, grasses rustling and seed pods of some plants rattling.

Have non-plant materials (wind chimes, fountain bubbling).

Birdsongs will fill the garden if birds baths, bird-attracting plants, bird feeders and bird houses are provided and maintained.

Accessories for bringing sounds to the garden include waterfalls, fountains, water harps and wind chimes.

The beauty of a Sensory Garden is that you can have the sensory stimulation benefits and like the saying ‘you can have your cake and eat it too’.

What benefits do you see in a Sensory Garden?