Outdoor Home Improvements were thrilled to take on this landscaping project, a bespoke sensory garden designed around how one family actually wanted to use their outdoor space. The customer came to us with a clear brief: turn a plain rear lawn into a safe, stimulating garden built for play, with different textures, colours and activities to explore, and surfaces that could take heavy daily use in all weathers.

What Did The Sensory Garden Project Involve?

The garden started out as a fairly typical rear space behind a modern brick home. A tired, patchy lawn, an existing patio and ageing boundary fence panels. Usable, but nothing about it invited anyone outside, and after any rain the lawn became too soft and muddy to play on for days at a time.

The design needed to pack a lot into a modest space: room for a trampoline, a soft surface along the side of the garden, planting the family could get hands on with, and a green space that stayed green and playable all year. Safety underfoot was the priority throughout, and everything had to read as one joined up garden rather than a collection of separate features.

How Did Outdoor Home Improvements Help?

Our team managed the whole build from start to finish, which included:

Stripping back the old lawn and completing all groundwork and excavation with a mini digger, levelling the garden ready for the new surfaces
Replacing the boundary with new pressure treated close board fencing to give a solid, private backdrop to the garden
Excavating and forming the pit for an in ground trampoline, then setting it flush with the finished surface so there is no frame to climb on or fall from
Laying high quality artificial grass across the main lawn area, cut tightly around the trampoline for a clean, continuous finish
Installing a bonded rubber safety surface in a deep plum red along the side of the garden, giving a soft, free-draining, non slip route through to the rear
Building raised timber sleeper planters so the family can plant up scented and textured varieties within easy reach
Forming decorative aggregate beds over a weed membrane, edged in sleepers, to add another texture and colour to explore
Fitting sensory play panels to the new fencing so the boundary becomes part of the garden rather than just an edge to it

The finished garden is a brilliant space. The in ground trampoline sits perfectly level with the artificial grass, the rubber surfacing adds a warm splash of colour and a genuinely soft landing, and the mix of grass, aggregate, timber and planting gives plenty to touch, smell and explore. Best of all it is usable straight after rain, which for a garden built around play matters enormously.

Sensory and Play Gardens Across Devon and the South West

Every sensory garden we build is different, because every family uses their garden differently. Whether that means artificial grass that stays clean and playable all year, soft safety surfacing, raised planting at an accessible height or a full landscaping redesign, our team can build it. We also install artificial grass for schools and sports where safe, hard-wearing play surfaces are needed. For more inspiration, take a look at our guides to simple accessible garden design and making a small garden look bigger.

We design and build gardens right across Devon, including Newton Abbot, Torquay, Exeter and Plymouth. Get in touch or call 01626 323525 to talk through your project and arrange a free, no obligation quote.

Project completed September 2026