During my time with the internship we’ll be designing and constructing a sensory garden for a local supported living facility, funded and maintained by a charity called FitzRoy. FitzRoy is a great organisation I’ve worked with before; they focus on helping and supporting families and individuals with learning disabilities. For more information visit http://www.fitzroy.org/
As I mentioned I have worked with FitzRoy before, this is why I asked to intern here. While working there last summer I noticed that their garden was in a state of disrepair and so I proposed a project to my supervisor. I wanted to create a sensory garden. Sensory gardens are a fantastic tool for individuals with learning disabilities and physical handicaps. It allows them to engage with the environment in ways they’re not necessarily used to.
Sustainability is an important consideration to take into account when deciding whether the project was feasible. The goal was to create a garden that can easily be maintained as the residents would be the ones tending to it. However, some of these residents are physically disabled, so ease of access for wheelchairs was a higher priority. This complicated designs as raised beds would be preferable for wheel chair users though not ideal when considering costs, material availability and man power. The decisions would ultimately be decided by the residents and staff as at the end of the day they would be the ones maintaining and using it daily.