WMHO unveils a sensory garden in Stony Brook Village on Sept. 23. Photo from WMHO
Project at Stony Brook Mill Pond Park supported by PSEG Long Island
The Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO) has announced that the newly restored Sensory Garden at the T. Bayles Minuse Mill Pond Park has officially been planted, thanks to a sponsorship of $3,500 from PSEG Long Island. An officialunveiling was held on Sept. 23.
The Sensory Garden was originally created as a place where those who are sensory-impaired could enhance their independence and interact with nature in a special way, over ten years ago. David Seyfert, a Stony Brook resident, visual teacher and mobility instructor assisted in the selection of plants and suggested wind chimes to ensure all visitors could enjoy the park.
Among the many plants incorporated into the sensory garden are lambs ear and wooly thyme for its texture; lavender, hydrangea and dogwood for its smell; and pink muhly grass, Japanese maple and a collection of hen and chicks for sound.
“Originally, the sensory garden began small — a residential visually impaired woman would come here to smell the flowers, listen to the birds, and sit in peace. Over the years, especially the last few during the pandemic, this park and garden have given that same peace of mind to all of its visitors,” said Dr. Richard Rugen, Chairman of the WMHO.
“Thanks to PSEG-LI and the PSEG Foundation, our newly enhanced Sensory Garden can continue to be a place where everyone come to relax, enjoy and find peace. Tropical Storm Isaias caused incredible damage throughout the park in August of 2020. The first phase of restoration was completed in October of 2021. This marks the completion of phase two of the park’s restoration,” said Rugen.
To learn more about the WMHO, visit www.wmho.orgor call 631-751-2244.
Spring planting in the Vanderbilt Museum's Sensory Garden Photo courtesy of Pal-O-Mine Equestrian
Four years ago, Kimm Schmidt and Lauren Ferris of Pal-O-Mine Equestrian in Islandia, working with young adults with disabilities, created the Sensory Garden near the entrance to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Reichert Planetarium in Centerport. They return each spring to replant, and this year their work was made possible by a generous gift from a private donor.
On a bright, recent spring morning, Schmidt and Ferris worked to revive the garden with a half-dozen adults with special needs in their twenties and thirties.
“We plant things that awaken the senses,” Schmidt said. The garden has more than two dozen herbs, including sage, mint, rosemary, basil, anise hyssop, chamomile, yarrow, citronella, rainbow Swiss chard, chives, lemon balm, strawberries, and five-leaf akebia, a vine with chocolate-scented flowers.
In 2018, Operations Supervisor Jim Munson invited a small group of local gardeners and landscape designers to refresh various gardens around the Vanderbilt Mansion. Schmidt and Ferris responded.
J-STEP team members from Pal-O-Mine in front of the replanted sensory garden at the entrance to the Vanderbilt Planetarium.
“The idea of the Sensory Garden came to mind immediately,” Ferris said. “It is a place that not only looks beautiful, but also has benefits the public can use and learn from.” Ferris, who had recently earned a Certificate in Horticultural Therapy from the New York Botanical Garden, said she thought a sensory garden would be an excellent feature for visitors of all abilities.
“Plants that awaken the senses are a wonderful tool to use in so many ways,” Schmidt said. “They spark conversations, jog people’s memories, and can be very calming.”
“I loved the concept and wanted it to have a prime spot with lots of traffic,” Munson said. “I just knew the front of the Planetarium was the perfect location, accessible to all.”
Lisa Gatti, who founded Pal-O-Mine Equestrian in 1995 as a therapeutic horseback riding program for individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable populations, liked the idea immediately. Pal-O-Mine decided to make the design and installation of the garden part of its J-STEP (Job Security Through Equine Partnership) program. Each week, Pal-O-Mine serves 350 people, in their various programs ranging in age from 3 and up. Schmidt and Ferris are J-STEP job coaches.
“We use horticulture skills at J-STEP to teach vocational skills necessary to secure and maintain a job,” Ferris said. “Some students go on to work at nurseries, and others have jobs at local retail stores.
Caring for the garden teaches proper work habits, personal and domestic maintenance, as well as interpersonal communication and social skills.
The J-STEP Team also maintains the gardens at Pal-O-Mine’s 13 acres in Islandia, Long Island. “Each student has a personal garden and decides which vegetables they want to plant,” “They keep records and research planting times and the needs of each plant.” The students maintain other gardens on the site, including pollinator and cutting gardens, and a medieval knot garden, a formal design planted with herbs and aromatic plants. J-STEP offers other programs including photography, cooking, and crafting.
J-STEP students who installed this year’s Vanderbilt plantings talked about the experience.
Meredith said, “Being part of the of the planning and planting for the garden calms me down. I see with my hands, and it feels bumpy and smells good.” Rebecca said, “It feels great to plant the Sensory Garden for people to enjoy.” Tim added, “I love working in the garden and I love the view.”
The group will return throughout the growing season to prune and clean the garden and do a clean-up in the fall.
For Schmidt, who recently joined the Vanderbilt as a museum educator, the attraction of designing and maintaining gardens is captured in a favorite quote from naturalist John Muir: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum & Planetarium is located at 180 Little Neck Road in Centerport. Visit vanderbiltmuseum.org for more information.
Village officials, members of the chamber of commerce, locals and members of the Long Island Explorium christen the new sensory garden. Photo by Julianne Mosher
By Julianne Mosher
A new sensory garden has been installed outside the Long Island Explorium in Port Jefferson, hoping to give those passing through the village an educational and therapeutic experience.
Bruce D’Abramo, village trustee, Barbara Ransom, director of operations, Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, Angeline Judex, executive director of the Long Island Explorium, Jackie Grennon Brooks, senior advisor of the Long Island Explorium, Ellen Kushner, treasurer of Decision Women in Commerce and Professions, Chelsea Finn, board member of the Long Island Explorium, Shelia Wieber, board member of Decision Women in Commerce and Professions, cut the ribbon on the new garden. Photo by Julianne Mosher
Sensory gardens are outdoor environments with flower aromas, plant colors, kinetic sculptures and interactive devices that encourage sensory play, learning and experience using all senses.
“These gardens have been shown to offer a range of health, therapeutic and educational benefits to all visitors, with particular benefits to children with sensory challenges, especially those on the autistic spectrum,” said Angeline Judex, executive director of the explorium.
For the past year, the explorium has been working toward creating the space on its front lawn. It all began when Ellen Kushner, treasurer of Decision Women in Commerce and Professions, brought her grandchildren there to play last December.
“I was so impressed with it and they had so much fun,” she said, “I thought to myself that we absolutely had to get involved and give the explorium some funding.”
She said everyone at Decision was on board with the idea to fund the garden, and at the organization’s 40th anniversary dinner in June they gifted the
explorium the grant.
The garden took about $2,000 to create and has been made possible by Decision’s funding, along with a donation and consultation from Port Jefferson Station-based Kunz Greenhouses as well as the village gardener, Caran Markson.
The garden transformed the grass that was originally outside, now including a solar fountain, a pathway of stones and several dozen types of plant species. The garden is more than 70 percent native, with flowers, leaves and stalks that provide food and habitats for wildlife, deep-root systems that purify water along with beauty that nurtures the senses.
“We specifically wanted plants that appeal to the five senses,” said Jacqueline Grennon Brooks, senior adviser to the explorium. “We wanted them to be visually interesting with the variety of fragrances and textures … ones that produce sound when swaying or when touched, and herbs or plants with edibles parts.”
Village officials, members of the chamber of commerce, locals and members of the Long Island Explorium christen the new sensory garden. Photo by Julianne Mosher
She added, “Research indicates that at the 70 percent native mark, we can reestablish important insect and bird populations.”
Although it’s helpful to the environment, village Trustee Bruce D’Abramo loved the idea that kids can come to the garden and do what they want.
“You don’t have to tell them what to do,” he said. “They make the decisions.”
He added that the space is going to be seen by all walking through the village.
“This area gets a lot of foot traffic,” he said. “Just last weekend at the Dragon Boat Race Festival, 2,500 people walked right past this park.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opened the garden Sept. 17, and will be open year round, even when the explorium is closed.
“People should come visit and be amazed by the transformation of our front yard into a delightful garden that both teaches and brings joy to everyone,” Judex said. ”I love seeing how people get excited about the sensory garden and want to create one in their own yard.”
Fourteen local nurseries and garden designers are taking part in the Vanderbilt Museum’s second annual Gardeners Showcase this year. Redesigning and transforming garden areas, planting new perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees and enhancing the beauty and ambiance of William K. Vanderbilt II’s historic Eagle’s Nest mansion and estate, home of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum were all part of this year’s design plan.
The beautiful results were unveiled on June 1. The showcase runs through Sunday, Sept. 29.
“I am grateful for the enthusiastic response from the landscaping and gardening community to volunteer their talents to beautify this historic estate,” said Lance Reinheimer, executive director of the Vanderbilt.
A view of this year’s sensory garden by the planetarium
“These floral artisans, as well as our own veteran corps of accomplished volunteer gardeners, have invested their time, labor and resources. Their enhancements will be enjoyed by more than 30,000 visitors this summer. We hope to continue this collaboration for many years,” he added.
Participating designers, identified by signage at showcase sites, are Carlstrom Landscapes Inc.; Centerport Garden Club; de Groot Designs Inc.; Dina Yando Landscape & Garden Design; Gro-Girl Horticultural Therapy; Haven on Earth Garden Design; Landscapes by Bob Dohne Inc.; Marguerite Kohler Designs; Mossy Pine Garden & Landscape Design; Pal-O-Mine Equestrian J-STEP Program; The Compleat Garden; Trimarchi Landscaping & Design; and Vanderbilt Volunteer Gardeners.
Visitors to the showcase pay only general admission to the museum which is $8 adults, $7 students and seniors, and $5 children 12 and under.There is no additional fee to see the gardens.
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum is located at 180 Little Neck Road in Centerport. Hours are Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays from noon to 4 p.m. until June 23, and open daily from June 24 to Sept. 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-854-5579 or visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.
Smithtown Guide Dog Foundation puppies get used to different smells, like various plants, at Suffolk County’s Association for Habilitation and Residential Care sensory garden in Shoreham June 13. Photo by Amanda Perelli
By Amanda Perelli
Guide Dog Foundation puppies were tested for their obedience at Suffolk County’s Association for Habilitation and Residential Care sensory garden in Shoreham June 13.
Dogs aged 4-to-11 months were invited to the garden, designed to stimulate children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to acclimate the animals to a place they may soon be visiting with new owners.
Smithtown Guide Dog Foundation puppies get used to different sounds, like drums, at Suffolk County’s Association for Habilitation and Residential Care sensory garden in Shoreham June 13. Photo by Amanda Perelli
Human guests of the garden can test their hearing by playing one of the giant instruments or smell the vertical hanging herbs like basil and mint.
The Smithtown-based nonprofit’s nine four-legged members did the same, as they became familiar with strange sounds, textures and smells and walked over pavers, asphalt, rocks, dirt, grass and puddles in the garden’s splash pad.
“We are here today to be able to give back to the community — to give our puppy raisers the opportunity to have their dogs experience all these different sights, sounds, smells and distractions,” said Jordan Biscardi, a puppy adviser in charge of the volunteer dog raisers who guided the event.
He tested each puppy on how well it could remain seated between its raiser’s legs under a table, seamlessly walk past another dog and react to its raiser with a “paw” shake.
“When you go out in the real world with a guide dog, they are going to come across everything,” Biscardi said, adding the owners raise the dogs from 8 weeks to between 1 and 2 years old.
This is the sensory garden’s second season, and the first time hosting the Smithtown-based Guide Dog Foundation.
A trainer walks her dog around Suffolk County’s Association for Habilitation and Residential Care sensory garden in Shoreham June 13. Photo by Amanda Perelli
“It’s designed for the purpose of stimulating the senses,” said Leeana Costa, director of development of the nonprofit AHRC Suffolk. “We have some residential services here that we have for the individuals that we support, and this space is designed to be available to them and to their families — anyone in the community — and that way it is an integrated space, which is something that’s important to AHRC Suffolk.”
Residents of the campus Monica Marie Antonawich, Chrissy Koppel and Pam Siems enjoyed watching the
puppies, learning about the Guide Dog Foundation and later getting the chance to interact with them. They said they are big animal lovers and as members of AHRC Suffolk’s self-advocacy group, recently collected food, blankets and beds for the animals at the Smithtown Animal Shelter.
“I thought it was wonderful, I really did,” Siems said of the event. “I’ve had dogs all my life and I would love to take one home — I love them. We wanted to help the animals this year. We collected dog bones and some things for the cats, too, and we want to continue doing this for the summer.”
Inviting the Guide Dog Foundation felt like a natural tie-in, Costa said. It was an educational, interactive and engaging experience for everyone.
“We serve a different population of individuals with disabilities,” she said. “We thought that this would be a nice partnership between both organizations, so that we could build awareness for the great work that each organization is doing — and everybody loves puppies. It was a successful and productive partnership for all.”
Two children play with the lawn checkerboard at AHRC Suffolk's sensory garden in Shoreham on Route 25A. Photo from AHRC Suffolk
Facility director Linda Bruno and sensory garden concenptionalizer Christine Gallo outside the entrance of the garden on Route 25A. Photo by Kevin Redding
Wind chimes in the sound section of AHRC Suffolk's sensory garden in Shoreham. Photo by Kevin Redding
A sensory wheel filled with rocks is housed in the touch section of AHRC Suffolk's new sensory garden in Shoreham. Photo by Kevin Redding
A child plays with a xylophone at AHRC Suffolk’s new sensory garden in Shoreham. Photo from AHRC Suffolk
The vegetable and herb garden excites visitor’s tastebuds at AHRC Suffolk's sensory garden in Shoreham. Photo by Kevin Redding
Photo by Kevin Redding
Christine Gallo, the project’s creator, stands on the river rock labyrinth to aid with touch and reflexology. Photo by Kevin Redding
Some of the wheelchari accessibble vegetables and herbs in the taste section of the sensory garden. Photo by Kevin Redding
A scenic view of the xylephone in the sound section and a lawn checkerboard at AHRC Suffolk's sensory garden in Shoreham. Photo by Kevin Redding
Local community members and organizations, AHRC Suffolk residents and workers, and others who helped make the sensory garden in Shoreham possible, were recognized for their assistence at the grand opening. Photo from AHRC Suffolk
Summer kicks off in Shoreham with a scenic stroll through the five senses.
After two years of planning and construction, a new, community-built sensory garden at the Shoreham facility of Suffolk County’s Association for Habilitation and Residential Care, a non-profit that assists people with special needs and disabilities, officially opened to the public May 24.
What was once an underdeveloped stretch of woods and concrete is now a vibrant haven where visitors of all ages and abilities can excite their sight, smell, touch, taste and sound through various interactive materials and installations donated and put in by dozens of businesses and organizations. Local Girl and Boy Scout troops also volunteered throughout the past year to make the dream project a reality.
It was a dream that came from a passionate AHRC employee.
Christine Gallo, who serves as a behavior intervention specialist at the organization’s Intermediate Care Facility at 283 Route 25A in Shoreham, said ever since she started working there, she’d dreamt about utilizing the location’s natural resources to help the 96 people living on campus — many of whom deal with sensory-processing disorders, in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to what comes in through the senses.
While a number of AHRC locations are sensory-based, all of them are indoors.
“I thought, ‘wouldn’t that be great to bring all the science and knowledge we’re so good at at AHRC outside?’ because nature impacts the residents greatly,” said Gallo, who went on to research other sensory gardens throughout Long Island and the world and combined the best aspects of them when it came to designing her own.
She brought the idea to the higher-ups, including the facility’s director, Linda Bruno, and director of development, J Andreassi, who started a donation process and reached out to companies, architects, engineers, contractors and suppliers about pitching in. Island Steel & Detailing Corp. in Manorville, Precision Tree Services in Ronkonkoma, Shoreham-Wading River Teacher’s Association, the Riverhead Central Faculty and Reliable Garden & Fence Co. in Middle Island are among the participating companies that donated, cleared the area, set up fences, gardened, mulched and made installations.
The total project cost approximately $315,000, according to Andreassi.
“It was amazing the amount of people that it took to get this job done, but it was so worthwhile and it’s only going to get better,” he said. “Next year, that garden is going to be so lush and beautiful.”
Upon entering the expansive, oval-shaped garden, which is broken into different areas according to the senses, visitors can use a mallet to bang on big plastic drums and rainbow xylophones in the sound section. Along the decorated pathway, visitors pass wheelchair-accessible garden beds filled with vegetables for picking and eating and herbs scientifically-proven to aid with memory and concentration, a large-scale checkerboard on the lawn, a quiet sitting area to accommodate those who might be hyper-sensitive, and a barefoot labyrinth made up of river rocks.
“People can take off their shoes and just walk through, [like reflexology],” Gallo said. “It’s my favorite area.”
Gallo is hoping the new garden can further help with the sensory and developmental process.
“I just want it to become a meaningful, beautiful place for people to go,” she said. “But also where clinicians and specialists and training staff can use these really amazing features.”
Gallo said members of the Girl and Boy Scouts were involved in plant research and even building some of the structures, like the sensory wheel, which is filled with rocks of varying textures people can touch and spin. The wheel, she said, is designed for those in wheelchairs who can’t utilize the sensory input from the labyrinth.
She and Bruno hope to eventually host school and camp field trips, as well as community gatherings, at the garden.
“So far, every individual who we’ve brought through there has loved every aspect of it,” Bruno said. “It’s a peaceful place — it’s really magical. I think it’s exciting to be living and working out here, and to see something positive happening, and people contributing from the community.”
When asked how it felt to be standing in the garden of her dreams, Gallo said, “When I think about this piece of land, although it may seem like a small part of the world, it’s really monumental in how it can change people’s lives and be a place for the community to come.”
