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  Jennifer Mitchell January 14, 2011 at 9:10am

  Hi Nicki

  Do the children get supervision in the garden? The reason I ask is because, when I was a child, I found the actual gardening to be very therapeutic... digging in the soil and planting small plants. Also (this may be a bit controversial), what about an earthworm farm?

  Jen
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  Nicki Jackson January 14, 2011 at 9:22am

  Hi Jen

   

  Thanks for coming back to me :) There will be a separate plot for actual gardening and getting up close and personal with the plants and soil.  This area is so they can play with little supervison, I need to keep lines of sight open though.  I believe this is about them having opportunities to develop their senses and escapismn too.  I like the idea of a the worm farm as they will learn loads from it I could suggest that for the other area.

  Thanks :)

  Nicki
  
  Jennifer Mitchell said:

  Hi Nicki

  Do the children get supervision in the garden? The reason I ask is because, when I was a child, I found the actual gardening to be very therapeutic... digging in the soil and planting small plants. Also (this may be a bit controversial), what about an earthworm farm?

  Jen
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  Jenny Bloom January 14, 2011 at 9:37am

  Hi Nicki

   

  Have a look at these articles and case studies on Bella D'Arcy's Gardens and People website http://www.gardensandpeople.co.uk/schools.html

   

  There is also a great community garden near me - King Henry's Walk Garden in Hackney which runs events and workshops for children among others http://www.khwgarden.org.uk/education.html

   

  Best wishes

   

  Jenny

  www.jennybloom.co.uk
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  Donny Bryan January 14, 2011 at 10:11am

  I'd also be interested if anyone has experience of designing a low cost garden for a 4 year old who is both blind and autistic. I'm seeing a new customer on Saturday. Parents are also disabled so has to be low maintenance.
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  Nicki Jackson January 14, 2011 at 10:14am

  Hi Jen

  Thanks for the links - really appreciated :)

  Nicki
  
  Jenny Bloom said:

  Hi Nicki

   

  Have a look at these articles and case studies on Bella D'Arcy's Gardens and People website http://www.gardensandpeople.co.uk/schools.html

   

  There is also a great community garden near me - King Henry's Walk Garden in Hackney which runs events and workshops for children among others http://www.khwgarden.org.uk/education.html

   

  Best wishes

   

  Jenny

  www.jennybloom.co.uk
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  Claire Brown January 14, 2011 at 10:29am

  i've designed a garden at my son's school that has had practically no maintenance over the last 2 years.

   

  The things that have been the most successful are the herbs. Unfortunately the rosemary has been eaten by rosemary beetle, but the fennel, sages and thymes have been great.
  Donny Bryan said:

  I'd also be interested if anyone has experience of designing a low cost garden for a 4 year old who is both blind and autistic. I'm seeing a new customer on Saturday. Parents are also disabled so has to be low maintenance.
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  Chris Collins January 15, 2011 at 5:56pm

  My wife has worked with autistic children and sensory integration. She suggested contacting   http://www.cot.org.uk/homepage/

  They specialize in developmental issues and would be able to share relevant information. 

   

  Link would also be usefull for Donny as well as contacting   http://www.autism.org.uk/

   

  Good luck with projects :)
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  Nicki Jackson January 15, 2011 at 6:18pm

  Hi Chris

  Thanks so much for this info -really helpful and of course, appreciated :)  Thanks to your wife too!

  Nicki
  
  Chris Collins said:

  My wife has worked with autistic children and sensory integration. She suggested contacting   http://www.cot.org.uk/homepage/

  They specialize in developmental issues and would be able to share relevant information. 

   

  Link would also be usefull for Donny as well as contacting   http://www.autism.org.uk/

   

  Good luck with projects :)
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  Stacy Tuttle January 15, 2011 at 6:37pm

  Hi,

  I have been involved in designing sensory gardens for children- a playgroup garden, nursery school garden and primary school garden. I originally trained at the Norland College and worked in childcare field for a number of years before retraining as a garden designer.

  Obviously age of the garden users is key as safety has to be the first priority when children are involved.  But there is plenty of scope for stimulating all the senses.

  E.g. for the nursery school garden we installed mirrors for the children to look at themselves and look at reflections of light and plants etc., also made a large outdoor "xylophone" using metal pipes of varying length set into a natural frame with sticks as percussion implements ( sound, texture of different materials)

  At playgroup used grasses and willow for sound, bespoke paved area made with variety of textured objects set into concrete- pebbles , large marbles and other interesting little durable toys and odds and ends etc found in car boot sales , mini beast area in a damp shady corner with old logs and ferns plus bark .

  The main thing is that creating a garden for children is great fun. I took classes with each year at the primary school and we discussed the garden at length. They wrote down their ideas- the younger ones drew pics and I tried to incorporate /interpret as many of their ideas as space and budget would allow.

  Stacy
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  chris nangle January 15, 2011 at 7:31pm

  we have made large seats for a few sensory gardens, we make them from cedar of lebonon they give off a great scent ,and feel really nice the kids love them