The Audible Landscape

The sense of hearing is often overlooked in landscape design, but growing just a few audible plants can add a whole new dimension to any garden. Each sound brings its own mood—the calming whisper of willow or birch or the furtive rustle of ornamental grass and bamboo. Audible plants are also an ideal addition to a night garden—not only will the sound be appreciated, but lights placed within audible ornamental grass make a dramatic display. These plants also help gardeners with limited vision orient themselves within the garden.

Plant choice for the audible garden

Many of the audible plants listed here are usually chosen for their color or shape, while others are simply overlooked by most gardeners. All will add an appreciated element to your landscape.

Audible plants
Animated Oats (Avena sterilis), Ballon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), Bamboo, Chinese lantern plant (Physalis alkekengi), Honesty or Money Plant (Lunaria annua), Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana), Pearl Grass (Briza maxima).

Audible trees
Birch (Betula sp.), weeping willow (Salix babylonica), black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), poplar (Populus sp.) and, to a lesser extent, Pine (Pinus sp.).

Planting design

Placing plants with similar sounds together—one group soft rustling plants, one group of rattling, and one group of clicking—will help reinforce the effect. You’re not likely to end up with a cacophony if you don't, but putting plants with very different sounds together can dilute each individual sound. However, be sure the plantings aren’t placed so closely that the wind isn’t able to pass through them.

Just one audible tree can change the whole atmosphere of a garden. Willows and especially poplars grow quite large very quickly and are best suited to large landscapes The birch and black cottonwood, however, can fit in even the smallest backyard. For anyone who has trouble sleeping, a soothing-sounding tree outside the bedroom window can make the nights a little more peaceful.

Place quieter plants, such as money plant or Chinese lantern plant, near seating in order to get the most enjoyment from them.

If you'd like to plant grass, but don't have room for a whole field, plant a strip of one or two feet wide along a fence (ideally, a fence that lets the wind through) for a more space-efficient arrangement. Alternatively, choose a grass that naturally grows in a single, manageable clump.

Fountains

A simple backyard pond with a fountain can be build inexpensively within one afternoon. Statue fountains are also relatively simple to install, and make elegant garden accents or focal points. [See BLI's Fountains and Waterfalls for ideas.]

Audible decor

A variety of windchimes is also available to add to the natural sounds. Whether you prefer the music-box chiming of metal pipes, the click-click of ceramic or terra cotta tiles, or the knocking of wooden chimes, there’s a windchime out there to suit your taste. Don’t let a fancy design sway you; make sure the sound is also pleasing.

An aeolian harp (a flat surface with wire strings and wooden balls that strike the strings as the wind blows them) is another option for garden music. The music of these wind harps is somewhat livlier than that of most windchimes. Place one on a door, garden gate, or other area that receives a lot motion to get even more music from them.