Cedar School

A wicked garden for some wonderful children, packed with lots of surprises!

This garden was inspired by and designed for some wonderfully warm and fun loving children at the Cedar School for children with disabilities.

The concept behind this garden is to take a very literal meaning for a sensory garden and to turn it into a haven for children, with such treats as the Eye Garden – a raised eye with huge mirrors behind it, packed with brightly coloured plants, the Nose Garden – a raised planter in the shape of a nose, packed with scented and aromatic plants, Bamboo Alley, in the shape of an ear, the Whispering Wall, Secret garden… the list goes on.

The idea of having a garden was wholly conceived by the children of Cedar School, a school for children with disabilities, in Nursling, Southampton. These very special and inspirational children wanted to improve their playground facilities and the quality of their playtime and decided a garden would really change their lives.

Funding, to the tune of £30,000 started pouring in from local and international organisations both moved and inspired by the children’s story. So from a small seed grew a rather large and very special project, of which Sarah was privileged to be in the driving seat.

Tarmac playground before Tarmac playground before
Before – a rather soul – less, grey and un – inspirational playground.
The ‘Garden of the Five Senses’ was designed and picked out by the children from a choice of three designs.

After 8 weeks of construction the bare, unfriendly playground has been transformed into a sensory haven for birds, bees, butterflies and for the children themselves. The garden is bright, bold, contemporary and entirely unique.

Divided into five sensory areas, the garden has been designed to encourage the children to look, smell, touch, taste and listen through interactive and manipulative play. It is packed with unusual and striking plants to appeal to all the senses. Local skilled craftsmen have built forged steel gateways, speaking tubes, a giant mosaic eye and a giant hand, with each fingernail providing a “touch” sensation.

Sauterelle were privileged to have our favourite garden expert, Alan Titchmarsh, to open the garden with retiring headmaster, Brian Hart.

Sensory Garden Grand Opening
Me and Alan!
The children, brimming with visible excitement, cannot wait to get into their garden at break time each day. For the amazing teachers of this wonderful school, a well earned rest amongst therapeutic plants and new trees… a complete transformation for the whole school to enjoy.

It has been an utterly humbling and wonderful experience.

Two years later…