Audio-Reader Sensory Garden to be included in Master Garden Tour

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Audio-Reader Sensory Garden will be featured in the Douglas County Extension's Master Gardeners Tour, which is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 6, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, June 7.

The Audio-Reader Sensory garden is designed to appeal to all of the senses, especially smell and touch. Volunteers maintain the garden under the guidance of master gardener and volunteer Frank Male. The garden is especially designed to appeal to the visually impaired and features Braille signage for the plants and a wheelchair-accessible brick pathway.

This year, the Master Gardener's tour will include six private gardens as well as the Sensory Garden. Two of the private gardens are also on campus, at 1125 and 1135 West Campus Road. Tickets for the garden tour are available at the Douglas County Extension Office, 2110 Harper St.; at local nurseries and garden centers, or at any of the private gardens included in the tour. Tickets are $10, with free admission for infants. Strollers are not allowed on the tour. Tickets can also be purchased online.

Public parking for visitors will be available on West Campus Road and across the street from Audio-Reader. Visitors should look for signs that identify parking lots designated for the Master Garden tour.

Offered as a public service by KU, Audio-Reader is a free reading and information service for the blind, visually impaired and print-disabled. Services provided include a 24-hour broadcast of local and national newspapers, books and magazine articles, printed materials recorded and provided via special request, audio description of live theatre, telephone reader and the Sensory Garden. For more information about Audio-Reader, visit reader.ku.edu.