The Aromatic Landscape

As the aromatherapists have been telling us, different scents can subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) alter mood and the garden provides plenty of room to experiment with the science of smell. The scent of a plant is a little like the taste of a wine -- every one’s perception is unique, so you may have to sniff around the garden center before you find just the right scents. With so many aromatic plants available, though, you’ll find something that’s right for your landscape.

Plant choice and planting design

When trying to make the most of a plant's scent, the concept of rooms within a garden is espcesially useful. Decide which feeling you want from a given area of the garden. Scents fall into broad categories - some are strong and "perfume"-like, some smell gently floral, others have an earthy “green” smell, and others - usually herbs -- have potent scents. Each category has a different effect the atmosphere. Need a place to relax? Group lilacs, lily-of-the-valley, or lightly scented roses around seating. Or, if you plan to nap in the garden, go for heavier scents like honeysuckle, jasmine, and wisteria trained along a trellis or arbor over your seating area. If instead, you need energy, lavender, rosemary, and lemon verbena will energize and invigorate you. A stroll through a section of culinary herbs, like oregano, sage, and thyme, will often help stimulate your appetite.

Resist the urge to bring in too many strongly scented plants or you’ll dilute the effect. If you garden using different "mood rooms", as described above, you can include many more scented plants, as they will be seperated in different parts of the garden.

A scent from the past
The garden is the perfect place to take advantage of the strong connection between the sense of smell and memory. If you’d like to invite back childhood memories, gather some plants from your childhood into one garden "room". You may be surprised at how strongly the past come back from plant scents you never paid attention to when they were scattered here and there. Likewise, avoid, for example, planting the same roses your ex used to give you or may end up with a garden that puts you in a bad mood without you knowing exactly why.

Scented walkways

Some plants only release their scents when they are touched and these are ideal for walkways. Different herbal paths can lead to various "rooms" in your garden. chamomile (Anthemis tinctoria),sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), woolly thyme (Thymus praecox) all have a pleasant scent and can tolerate being walked on. Scented geraniums and other aromatic herbs can be planted along pathways, and will release their scents when brushed by passers-bys.

Bringing plants up to nose level

Raised planters
Aromatic plants will be easier to enjoy the closer they are to nose level. Raised beds with edges designed as seating are one solution. Hanging baskets of scented trailing plants can be hung from plant support, as well.

Aromatic arbors and trellises
Scented vines and climbers work womderfully trained on a trellis mounted on the wall surrounding a window. Summer breezes make plant as enjoyable from indoors as it is when you're in the garden. An arbor with these plants makes a good entrance into the garden or as aromatic shade for a garden bench. Favorire scented climbers include clematis (Clematis sp.), climbing rose (Rosa sp.), honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.), jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum), passion flower (Passiflora sp.), sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius), wisteria (Wisteria floribunda).