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Students at the Seneca Academy have learned this year that it takes all kinds of plants — and all kinds of professionals — to make a garden.

Fifth- and sixth-graders at the Darnestown school have spent the academic year designing and planning a sensory garden, which features an array of plants that can be touched, smelled and tasted. The students, with the help of art teacher Diane Blake, each performed tasks to bring the project to fruition. Lawyers wrote a contract with their client, Head of School Brooke Carroll; accountants budgeted; designers planned the look of the garden; researchers collected information; and project managers and secretaries kept everything organized.

About 13 students spent Earth Day edging, mulching and planting herbs, flowers and other foliage they purchased with a $500 grant from Stadler Nurseries in Laytonsville. They will spend the rest of the year on finishing touches such as decorating mosaic flower pots and installing stone paths. They also made wind chimes, and students at The Circle School, the academy's preschool program, are growing sunflowers indoors to replant in the garden.

"It's pretty cool because I don't know any other school that has chances to help the school community by doing something like this," said Drew Bender, 10, of Boyds.

"Most schools will just plant a tree or two," said Lane Drasbek, 11, of Bethesda. "We're doing everything."

The sensory garden, a small plot of land tucked between the sidewalk that circles the school and the building itself, is filled with plants that appeal to the senses, Blake said, such as mint, honeysuckle, lamb's ear, lilac and steppables, ground cover that tolerates foot traffic. Students installed logs for seating and birdbaths brimming with flowers. The ground will be covered with rocks that crunch underfoot. The garden is centered around a painted wood sculpture Seneca Academy students made with an artist in 2006 titled "Universal Dreams."

"Looking at the garden, we thought it was going to be pretty tight, but it's working," said Sabrina Snowberger, 10, of Germantown.

Each grade at the school is charged with the care of a wilderness area on the school's property, such as the pond or butterfly garden, Carroll said, and the fifth and sixth grades will be tasked with maintaining the sensory garden.

"It's just a really creative way of looking at art and it connects with our philosophy," said Carroll, adding that the project is running on time and under budget. "If you expect students to be responsible and respectful, they will be. They'll rise to the challenge."

The students agreed.

"I think it's going to be really good because we're giving our all," Lane said.