Sensory Garden
Catering to Keswicks’ Senses
Plans to create a sensory garden in a community park in Keswick are coming to an end. The project, designed for the benefit of the town’s elderly and disabled residents is nearing completion in the town after four years
The idea for the new garden in Fitz Park was brought forward after it was decided that the town lacked facilities for the elderly and those living with a disability. The plans for the garden were put forward by Friends of Keswick Parks.
The idea is to bring mountain features to the town, to be enjoyed by people who cannot get on to the fells.
Group member, Elizabeth Barraclough said: “We wanted to develop the Sensory Garden to provide an area where sights and feel, sound and scents could be enjoyed by everyone but particularly people of all ages with disabilities. Keswick and the surrounding area is well endowed with facilities for the young and active but for the elderly and anyone with a disability there is nothing geared to their needs or to make them feel part of the community.”
The work on the ambitious project began in May, and although the foundations of the sensory garden will be finished this month, planting will continue over the coming years.
The garden is set to feature scented and textured plants, a tapestry hedge, rockeries, climbing plants grown over arches, bulbs and evergreen shrubs.
The majority of the maintenance of the rockeries, the planting in raised beds and the training and pruning of the climbers in the arched walkways will be maintained by the Friends of Keswick Parks.
The newly designed garden will also feature a stone-faced concrete sheepfold, with a rendered concrete raised bed, a cairn incorporating a stone seat, and hedging within the south-east wall will be planted. Extra paths will be created for wheelchair access.
Elizabeth added: “We hope the garden will provide a space where elderly and less able residents will be able to come and appreciate the ambience of the garden and find a quiet place to sit. The ‘sheepfold’ is designed to let wheelchair users and their companions sit side by side. It is a relief to have got so far, but we still have all the planting to do and choosing the right plants is very important.”
Friends of Keswick Parks’ is a small group set up four years ago to provide practical help in the Parks.
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