A garden building can make a wonderful garden retreat – a place to relax and unwind from the stresses and strains of daily life. But that retreat depends upon being surrounded by a peaceful garden that can help you relax and connect more fully with the natural world. Creating a soundscape around your garden retreat can be just as important as creating beautiful views to look out on. 

Many gardeners focus on creating a beautiful garden – thinking primarily about visual aesthetics. But to create a truly wonderful garden, it is a good idea to think about engaging not just your eyes – but all the senses. Sound is very important, and in this article, we will take a look at how you can create soothing sounds to surround your garden building:

The Wind in the Leaves

The sound of the wind blowing in the leaves of trees, shrubs, tall perennials, and grasses can make a big difference. Even when we are not always consciously aware of these natural background noises, they can help us feel more grounded and at peace. 

The gentle sussurations of the leaves on a breezy day, or even the roaring during a storm, can help us feel more connected to the natural world around us. So it is important to make sure that our garden buildings are surrounded by lush and dense planting, to create the right effect. 

Remember, too, that dense, layered planting around your garden building can also keep out other, less harmonious noises, from traffic, or from your neighbours, for example. 

The Sound of Birdsong

The right planting, especially with plenty of native plants, will also help attract wildlife – including birds. Birdsong is, of course, another important background noise in the natural world around us. Attracting birds through the plants that we choose for our gardens, and through adding bird baths, bird feeders, and nesting boxes, we can make sure that birdsong fills the air around our garden retreats. 

Of course, the right planting will also help make sure that our sound world is also filled with the buzzing of bees and other insects, and the noises of other garden wildlife. 

Flowing Water

Another way to add to these natural background noises is with running water. Adding a water feature to a garden pond, or even creating a babbling brook through your space is a great way to create a garden retreat with an even calmer mood. Solar-powered pumps can make such features an eco-friendly choice. You might also add rain chains to the guttering on the roof of your garden building to create interesting water sounds around your garden retreat. And of course, wildlife-friendly planting and practices will mean that you often hear the delicate splashes and plops of wildlife visiting your pond or water feature.

Wind Chimes

Finally, you might also consider adding extra elements to complement the sounds of the natural world around your garden building. For example, you might add some delicate wind chimes which will add to the ambiance and help you to feel completely relaxed and at peace. These additional features can help you to feel that you are a part of the natural world around you, harmonising with nature in more ways than one. 

Thinking about what you hear, as well as what you see from your garden building retreat can help you make it a delight for all the senses. And even when you are not always aware of all the noises that make up the soundscape, they can have an impact on your mood. So think about the above and create a sensory garden for your ears, as well as just for your eyes.