Building a sensory garden at the Chelsea Flower Show

Jo Thompson has designed a sensory garden for children that is due to be built at the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show.

Here, in Jo's words, she explains the inspiration and why the light was 'turned on' for her.

Jo Says: It all stemmed from a conversation with Ally, the head gardener at Demelza Children’s Hospice in Kent. He was showing me around the gardens that play such an important part in the lives of the children of Demelza, and the lives of their parents and siblings.

He was showing me a sensory trail that he had devised in answer to the request to build a separate sensory garden. ‘ Gardens ARE sensory,’ he said. A few months earlier I‘d had a chance to see and hear in action the imposing Water Organ in the fabulous gardens of Villa d’Este outside Rome, and Ally’s statement was the light bulb moment.

Why not create a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show which linked the ideas of sound, therapy and hope, as well as being a functional place to be – after all, the brief was real, and the garden was to be rebuilt at Demelza after the show.

So a year later, here I am just off to visit the great team of engineers at PrivettInt who met the concept of a Water Harp with enthusiasm.

I had no idea if the idea would work, but always follow the mantra of a teacher long ago: namely, ‘Anything’s possible’. (plus I am no hydraulics expert and admit I tend to leave the workings to those who can take one look at a sketch and a description and say yes or no…) They are also working on a suikinkutsu – a basically an upturned pot with water dripping down the centre, creating (in theory) a melodic sound. Not a crowd-pleaser as you have to be up close, but the children hopefully will appreciate when the garden takes up its permanent position.

I’d been trying to work out how you could make a feature of the sound of water dripping, when an acquaintance pointed out that they’ve being doing it in Japan for centuries, so why re-invent the wheel…..

Quite a few interesting sessions poring over diagrams(comprehensible) and instructions (not so comprehensible), but I think we’re nearly there.