A place that caters for all the senses? Kitty Holland accompanies Emma Treacy on a visit to a new sensory garden in Dublin

A garden is a lovesome thing, wrote Thomas Brown in the mid-19th century. "Rose plot, fringed pool, fern'd grot - the veriest school of peace." Centuries later, we could envisage it still.

Though a more difficult feat for those among us who are either visually impaired or blind, there are ways in which those without sight can walk in gardens, appreciating the sensations only experienced in such lovesome spots.

In May the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin opened a sensory garden, its plants and trees chosen to awaken all the senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.

The idea of the last curator, Christy Crosby, it was designed in 1999 by a then student of Teagasc School of Horticulture, Joan Rogers, and built voluntarily by staff at the gardens, with funding from the OPW and Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Emma Tracey (19) from Cavan, who has been blind since birth, concedes she is "not necessarily incredibly interested in plants", but had been interested to visit the garden since she heard about it some months ago.

Situated near the entrance to the gardens, the sensory garden opens with wide pathway towards a large sculpture in oak, its surface smooth and undulating and, according to the leaflet produced to accompany the garden, "based on the shape of the arum spathe" - a wide leaf, apparently. Moving her palms over it, Emma says it feels "different".

She is more taken with some of the plants and trees, especially those chosen for their tactile qualities, such as the soft, velvet-like stachys sanata, or lamb's ear, and the more sandpaperish pulmonaria.

"Blind people like to feel things," she says. "These feel lovely, though I would like to know what they're called, just so I could tell people about them after or even try and get some for myself."

Though identified by small signs in the flower beds, there are no signs in Braille. There are three audio-points throughout the garden, though, as Emma asks: "How would you know where they were if you couldn't see them?"

She says it would be useful if there was tactile paving - i.e., paving with a series of bumps - as there frequently is at traffic lights, at the audio points. She is also critical of having to crouch down to touch the plants.

"It would be much better if they were were waist-height so you could just touch them as you walk along. It would be difficult to come here on your own."

There are 7,000 people in Ireland whose sight is sufficiently impaired to be registered as legally blind. Sarah Gahan of the National Council for the Blind of Ireland says about 82 per cent of these have "some usable vision". They may see light or some colour, "and this garden would be lovely for them".

Emma can see some light, though still has to be directed to crouch down and lean over to caress the wispy, woolly-tipped pony-tail grass at the centre of a circular bed of lawn grass.

She describes the sensation as "lovely".

Paul Maher, grounds foreman of the gardens, accompanies us on our visit and says he welcomes feedback such as this, explaining the garden is an "evolving project".

"It's difficult for someone with all their senses to design a garden to cater to all the senses when they can take them for granted. We welcome all comments because we want to build on what we've done here."

At the end point of the garden, a raised bed contains plants to arouse the sense of smell and sight - wormwood with its woody, grassy smell, lemon thyme, origanum, a type of wild marjoram and the aromatic prostranthera and also viola. Crushing the leaves of the helichrysum or curry plants in her hands and inhaling the aroma which smells just like curry powder, Emma, like the rest of us, exclaims: "Oh, my goodness, that is just like curry!"

There are other features - a sunken waterpool towards the end of the garden gurgles pleasantly with water-lilies, bull rushes and cyperus papyrus.

Paul Maher points out that the garden is newly opened and it should really begin to come into its own in about three years when, for example, the fragrant honeysuckle begins to climb and cover a wooden pergola, and when other plants have grown to Emma's wished-for waist height.

He says the team at the National Botanic Gardens is hoping for as much interaction as possible with the public.

"That is what we are all about, to tell people about horticulture, the environment and to make that interesting and accessible - to all people."

Sarah Gahan and Emma Tracey both welcome the garden.

"It's a great step," says Sarah. "People with low vision can appreciate the colours. And it's great for what's not there - there are no steps and the paths are wide. There are no low objects that are often found in most public gardens that people can trip over, that effectively make them inaccessible.

"It would be great if more public services and bodies made as much effort."