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Dartmouth Park Sensory Garden Phase Two
Please give us your views
SVI, the Friends of Dartmouth Park and Sandwell Council are working together to make the new Sensory Garden in Dartmouth Park an attractive and stimulating space for everyone to enjoy. The first phase of the garden, the raised bed was completed this summer and we sincerely thank you all for helping us to make this possible and for supporting us so generously with the fund raising through our sponsored walk last year. We are currently working on a grant application to Community Spaces for additional funding to develop the area and to complete phase two of the garden.
We would like to find out your views and ideas about your favourite sensory flowers, plants, garden features and what you would like to see included in the design. So, if you have an interest in gardens or gardening, please take the time to complete our short consultation questionnaire and return it to us by email to info@sandwellvisuallyimpaired.org. Or ring the office on 0121 525 4810 and we can complete the questionnaire over the phone for you.
Thank you for taking the time to help us.
Find out more
Download a sketch design for the proposed sensory garden at Dartmouth Park.
Here is an explanation of the proposals set out in the sketch. These are ideas for further discussion.
The proposed sensory garden is on the opposite side of the path to the triangular bed at the end of the main avenue. The new path creates a wide, level route from close to the existing raised bed across to the pavilion. It is at the same level as the entrance to the pavilion. The path curves gently and varies in width from 2m wide at its narrowest to 3m where there are seats.
The path runs across the existing slope and is terraced slightly into it to achieve a level surface. A retaining wall approx 0.5m high on the uphill side raises the planting making it easier to reach. On the downhill side the terracing can be achieved by a bank sloping down from the path. The bank would be planted.
The existing raised bed is approx one metre in height so it will stand out as being slightly higher than the new retaining walls. It will still be possible to gain access to either side of it, but at each end the line of the raised bed will be continued by the low wall at the side of the path, uniting it with the design of the garden.These new retaining walls will be constructed and finished in the same manner as the raised bed to match it.
There would be several different surfaces to introduce textures.The new path would be in Bredon gravel, but there would be a narrow path with a textured surface leading off it to go round the back of an island of planting within the path. This could be fun for children to explore. Textured paving is also proposed in the curved space between the raised bed and the main tarmac path. Perhaps this could take the form of a pebble mosaic and is something that could be added in at a later date as and when funding allows.
At the end of the path furthest from the pavilion there is a circular seating area to the side of the path, taking the form of a spiral of textured paving. The centre of the spiral would be a focal feature of some sort e.g sculpture or even a small tree with textured bark. Vertical timbers of varying height around the outside of the spiral would support climbing, scented plants, sheltering the seating area to create a pergola effect. Its design would echo the pavilion, which is clad with vertical timbers. Its location helps to balance the pavilion in views from lower down the park but does not block the main view down the centre of the avenue towards the war memorial.It could perhaps be used to hang sculpture for sound.
The spiral design echoes the spiral motif on the stonework of the nearby ornamental drinking fountain. This would be repeated in new spiral-topped stone roundels at the ends of the wall retaining the big triangular bed at the end of the avenue. This wall is currently partially demolished and would be rebuilt to match the walls in the sensory garden, including a curved alcove for seats.
There is plenty of scope to introduce sculptural items within the garden. They could be located within the planting near the edge of the beds where they would be easy to reach. Planting would be for colour, scent, texture and sound, taking the form of mainly permanent planting with scope for some areas to be planted up each year, if required. There would also be drifts of spring bulbs on the grass slope below the sensory garden.
The design also shows ideas for the triangular bed at the end of the Avenue, although strictly speaking this is not part of the sensory garden. However, they are adjacent to each other and the design ideas should follow through. This triangular bed is for seasonal planting but in a very different style to the formal bedding at the other end of the Avenue by the main gates. Wide bands of grasses, approximately parallel, curve across it and continue into the sensory garden giving a structure to the space and also a sense of movement when seen relative to each other when walking by. They provide a backdrop and a foil to the seasonal planting in between them. This could vary from year to year e.g red tulips rising from a cloud of forget me nots in the spring, or a seasonal sowing of wildflowers such as a mix of poppies, cornflowers and daisies, to bring varied interest into the heart of the park.