The Making Sense Garden triumphs at Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival

Fifth Sense recently had its most significant public engagement opportunity to date through a collaboration on The Making Sense Garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
Garden designers Flora Scouarnec and Vickie Pease-Cox, from Scouarnec and Pease Cox Garden Design approached Fifth Sense to discuss their plans to create a garden that highlighted the challenges of smell impairment. They discovered us during their research and were so inspired by our touching personal stories and forward-thinking work that they asked us to get involved.
This collaboration gave Fifth Sense a vital chance to raise awareness of smell and taste disorders with visitors to the festival.
Fifth Sense CEO and Founder, Duncan Boak, said: “The Making Sense Garden represented a valuable opportunity for Fifth Sense and our cause. I can’t thank Vickie and Flora enough for their efforts to increase recognition for people with smell and taste disorders.”
Their design was carefully considered, with textured plants and trees, sounds from a water feature and a crunchy gravel path, and lush planting for a stunning visual impact.
The lower part of the garden was a relaxing space where people with smell and taste disorders could enjoy the sights and sounds around them.
Adjacent to the garden was our stand where members of the Fifth Sense team and volunteers welcomed visitors who participated in interactive activities related to smell and taste.
The Making Sense Garden was awarded a prestigious silver medal, an achievement made even more thrilling for Vickie and Flora as this was their first-ever show garden.
It also scooped the RHS People’s Choice Award for the best garden in the Get Started category, an award voted for by members of the public.
The garden was featured on a special Gardener’s World programme. Presenters Amit Anderson and Nick Bailey commented there was a lot to like about the garden, including how the sunken level lured them in like a warm embrace.
To celebrate the garden, Fifth Sense held a fundraising event at The Mitre Hotel, Hampton Court.
Invited guests were able to hear about the garden, listen to a talk from BBC Radio 4 presenter Kathy Clugston, take part in wine tasting from the perspective of someone with a smell disorder, and witness the launch of Making Sense, a perfume created using flowers found in the garden.
The evening included a raffle, where £1,000 was raised. We would like to thank the following for generously donating raffle prizes:
- The Mitre Hotel, Hampton Court
- NC Coaching
- ISEL Digital
- Soul Space
- Tabby Tiger
- T. Winter Accounting Services
- Becky Street
- Wales Perfumery
- Hallgarten Wines
- Scouarnec and Pease Cox Garden Design
Duncan added, “I’d also like to say a big thank you to the Mitre Hotel for hosting our event, Hallgarten Wines who donated the wines for the tasting, Sarah McCartney from 4160 Tuesdays for creating the Making Sense perfume and our partners FlavorActiV for supporting our activities at the event. Lastly, I’d like to thank our fantastic volunteers who gave up their time to support us and everyone who visited the garden.”
Find out more about the garden, including a full plant list, here.