PATIENTS recovering from serious head injuries at Southampton General Hospital will now be aided by a sensory garden - thanks to some generous Hampshire gardeners.

Two green-fingered workers from the Hillier Garden Centre at the Harold Hillier Arboretum near Romsey donated more than £1,500 of plants and their own labour.

The sensory garden, with plenty of aromatic and colourful plants, will provide a much-needed relaxation area for patients at the hospital's Victoria House rehabilitation ward.

Chris Rawlings, the centre's plant area manager, said: "The project was close to my heart because some years ago my father suffered a head injury.''