While sometimes overlooked by care teams, a diminished sense of smell negatively impacts quality of life for elderly people. Without valuable sensory input from our noses, the world is a much different place, lacking liveliness and becoming muted. While scientists once thought that humans could detect 10,000 distinct smells, with newer technology they have recently discovered that humans can, in fact, detect over one trillion scents.

Although the body renews scent cells every 30 to 60 days, age diminishes the ability for the body to replace these cells. According to a 2006 article in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “More than 75% of people over the age of 80 years have evidence of major olfactory impairment.” In addition to age, medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Bell’s palsy and Parkinson’s disease contribute to olfactory impairment.

When included in a therapeutic healing garden, residents can rely on strategically placed, strongly scented nontoxic plants to serve as sensory cue reference points. The plants remind them of their location, giving them the confidence to be as independent as possible as they enjoy the garden.

Likewise, incorporating these plants also helps to trigger memories of days gone by. The slightly spicy scent of basil may elicit fond memories of cooking homemade tomato sauce. The sweet smell of lilacs may awaken memories of a long-ago childhood home.

In addition to triggering memories, scented plants help to connect residents to the world around them today. Lining walkways with now-popular plants such as chocolate mint and pineapple sage give residents and guests the opportunity to brush up against the plants, or reach down and grab the leaves, releasing wafts of scent through the air. Choosing boldly scented plants such as these helps to overcome some of the elderly’s olfactory impairment, giving them the opportunity to smell the world around them once again.

While “stop and smell the roses” may be a cliché, the sentiment is based on sound science: our sense of smell contributes to quality of life, and should be considered when building a therapeutic healing garden.