THE SENSORY GARDEN. Once we discovered the five beds between the bowling green and the Sexby Garden used to be planted as sensory beds it became a project of the Friends to bring them back to life.

With a contribution from Southwark’s Cleaner Greener Safer fund and hard work by the Peckham Rye Park’s Head Gardener and Friends’ volunteers we have fought the bindweed and maiden hair, dug and mulched and finally planted.

The plants have been chosen to stimulate the senses - tall grasses the wind whispers through, six types of lavender to withstand dry summers providing smell and purple flowers, stachys (lambs ears) for their soft furry leaves. We had barely finished planting when two passers by stopped to touch and smell a curry leaf plant.