Thank you to our New Leaf funders:

• The Xerces Society

• Giant/Martin's Food Stores

• E. Kneale Dockstader Foundation

• Give a Fig from Suzanne Gaadt, Gaadt Perspectives

• DEP Environmental Education mini-grant

 

Expansions are underway at the 11-acre New Leaf Sensory Garden in Kennett Square, including a new nature-inspired children's book along the story walk, additional plants in the pollinator garden, and story rocks where visitors can create their own fairy tale.

 

Over the last few years, The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County has transitioned the former New Leaf Eco Center to a sensory garden to make a fun and nurturing place for visitors of all ages to interact and engage with nature.

 

What is a Sensory Garden?

 

A sensory garden is an intentionally designed garden or outdoor area that nurtures and enriches all sensory systems through stimulation, courtesy of plants and materials that engage one's senses of sight, smell, touch, and sound.

 

Sensory gardens are popular with and beneficial to both children and adults, especially those with sensory processing issues, including autism, dementia, and Alzheimer's. For others, it can simply be a safe space to go without feeling overwhelmed, which may also help hone coping skills and the ability to get through the day.

 

Located at 776 Rosedale Road in Kennett Square, New Leaf features nature trails, a honey bee apiary, a cairn-building station, and opportunities to observe wildlife, photograph nature, and explore the stream.

 

The sensory garden serves as a hub for young children and families to engage with the natural world through interactive features making this preserve perfect for honest exploration.

 

Visitors can choose to follow the meadow loop trail or a wetland trail then compare the sounds from the meadow with those in the creek and woodland corridor.

 

Learn to identify common bird calls and distinguish between natural and human-made sounds of the Garden located along a section of the East Penn Railroad.

 

Donations are being accepted to complete future expansion, including a musical station. Once you choose a donation amount and add the gift to your cart, during checkout you can note in the "Comments" box what project or preserve you want to support with your donation.

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Story Walk



New Leaf features a story walk funded by the E. Kneale Dockstader Foundation. Visitors can follow the trail loop to find pages of a nature-inspired children's book changed seasonally and read along as you explore the meadow.

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Cairn Garden

 

Visitors can cross the creek and follow the hopping logs to build their very own architectural creation, known as a cairn. A cairn is a human-made stack of stones, historically constructed as a memorial or landmark. Visitors can focus their attention on stacking rocks next to the babbling creek and experience the calming effect. We do ask visitors to please only build cairns at the designated station with the stones provided.

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Bags to Benches

 

Thanks to Giant/Martin's Food Stores in partnership with Keep PA Beautiful, visitors can enjoy resting on a new bench while enjoying the pollinator garden. All plastic bags returned to Giant grocery stores are recycled by Trex, which then works with a third-party vendor to provide Giant with benches made of recycled material that the store donates. Since 2001, Giant has donated 1,800 benches to local libraries, parks, playgrounds, and schools.

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Story Walk



New Leaf features a story walk funded by the E. Kneale Dockstader Foundation. Visitors can follow the trail loop to find pages of a nature-inspired children's book changed seasonally and read along as you explore the meadow.

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Plant Pollinators

 

Thanks to a generous donation from The Xerces Society, TLC planted a 6,000 sq. ft. area at New Leaf this past spring with native flower plant species that enhance monarch butterfly and other important pollinator habitats in the Northeast. The eastern monarch population has declined more than 80% since the 1990s due to multiple threats, including habitat loss and degradation, pesticide exposure, and climate change. These plants offer high quality, pesticide-free habitat to help protect this iconic insect.

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Texture Tiles

 

Dig into a dozen different materials to compare size, texture, weight, and more in the fun texture tiles. Can you identify the materials by touch alone? The tiles help provide a tactile experience for children and anyone who enjoys getting their hands dirty.