The Power of Planting for Scent

Supporting our wellbeing with one critical sense

Scent is the only Sense

that has a direct neural connection to the hippocampus, where memories are formed.  This direct pathway means that scent memories are often vivid and deeply intertwined with emotions. Unlike other senses, which rely on more complex neural routes, the direct link between the moment we smell something and the hippocampus allows smells to instantly trigger memories and feelings, making them exceptionally powerful. This characteristic makes scent an effective anchoring tool for enhancing performance and well-being. By intentionally using specific scents, we can create strong associations that evoke desired mental states, whether it’s calmness, focus, or motivation, thereby improving our overall mental and emotional health. Now just imagine how we can harness that power in the privacy and security of our own gardens? Scents such as peppermint, rosemary, lemon, eucalyptus, basil, cinnamon and sage are known to promote the ability to focus. Equally, Lavender, Chamomile and Jasmine are all known to induce a sense of calm and all of these plants are easily grown in UK gardens.

Lavender by a front door for a calming welcome home

Scent Planting for all Seasons

People often associate scented plants with summer but there are plenty of good plant options for all seasons. In winter, a well placed Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postil’ by a doorway is a wonderful thing. Similarly, walking along a pathway lined with powerfully scented Sarcococca confusa is a great way to entice us out for a winter walk. Hamamelis (Witch Haxel),  Lonicera fragrantissima (Shrubby honeysuckle) and Jasminum nudiflorum (winter flowering Jasmine) are also wonderfully scented winter shrubs. In spring, as well as the more obvious scented spring daffodils, hyacinths and tulips, again there are some great scented shrubs – if you haven’t yet come across a Viburnum x carlcephalum then I highly recommend it. Summer of course is awash with scent and many of the best scented summer plants are mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog. Of course, added to those are roses and honeysuckle, the scents of a quintessentially British summer. Many summer flowering plants continue producing scent into the autumn such as Nicotiana and Solanum laxum (Potato vine) but the main scent that I associate with autumn is petrichor and the scent of earthy decay that rises as you crunch through fallen leaves.

A small but scent packed front garden.  Sarcococca forms a low hedge at the pavement’s edge for winter scent, the Viburnum x burkwoodii  blossom takes over in spring as well as a Skimmia ‘Kew Green’. In summer the stalwart Trachelospermum jasminoides on the fence next to the doorway welcomes my clients home.

Petrichor

is the distinctive, earthy scent released when rain falls on dry soil. The human sense of smell is remarkably sensitive to petrichor and biologically this sensitivity is rooted in the presence of geosmin, an organic compound produced by soil-dwelling bacteria, which our noses are highly attuned to even at concentrations as low as five parts per trillion. This heightened sensitivity may have evolutionary roots; early humans likely relied on the scent of rain to locate water sources and fertile grounds, essential for survival. Socially and culturally, petrichor is often associated with renewal, growth, and the comforting presence of rain. In the UK for instance, the scent is often associated with the comforting feeling of being safe indoors during a rainstorm, evoking childhood memories and a sense of coziness and protection. 

If we take both the scent of the plants themselves and the scent of the soil into account, it shows just how important for our wellbeing it is that our gardens are filled with plants, with a judicious and restrained use of hard landscaping. 

If you’d like to work with a Garden Design Practice that loves to consider all the senses in their work then please get in touch.