Colour in your Garden

How people use colour is quite personal and if one person said the colour red to 20 people, those 20 people would view the colour red in different tones or hues. This means that colour is subjective and is undoubtedly affected by our own likes and dislikes as well as location, light levels and use of the garden.

Colours can appear in different ways to us for example, red is classed as a ‘hot colour’ and it really does demand your attention and has the effect of coming towards you. Yellow also comes towards you but isn’t as demanding as red, yellow tends to reflect available light. Green is ‘cool’, it makes a good backdrop to other colours and blue is a very cool colour that often seems to merge with the background and looks smaller to its red counterpart.

Garden Colour Tips

Hot colours – red, orange and yellows; these are strong, warm, attention seeking, stimulating and lively and can make your space feel smaller and more intimate. Most plants that fit this description will come from the sunnier climates like South Africa and the tropics. These colours can become quite difficult to see during the evening or in lower light levels.

Cool colours – pale blues, creams and pinks in the spring become a little stronger as the season moves on and are indigenous of northern Europe. Blues, pale violets and greens show up best in lower light levels i.e. shady planting schemes and offer a calm, subdued and restful effect, these colours tend to recede and can therefore make a small garden feel larger.

Harmonious colours are those nearest each other on the colour wheel for example, blue, violets and green from the cooler more restful side and red, yellow and oranges from the warmer more dramatic side.

Monochromatic colour schemes are those that are usually one colour but where plants are selected by using their tints, tones and shades of that hue. You may have heard of a famous monochromatic planting scheme, The White Garden at Sissinghurst in Kent. Different tones, tints and shades of white have been used and are offset by the use of silver and greys and then backdrops of greens. Our image shows part of the White Garden at Sissinghurst photographed in September.

Contrasting colour schemes are from the opposite sides of the colour wheel for example red with green, blue with orange and yellow with violet. These are also known as complementary colours and by having two next to each other it forces the eye to see the other colour more intensely.

Care must be taken when using white in the garden because white flowers stand out from other colours and can disrupt a colour scheme as your eye is immediately drawn to it. There are few true white flowers; most of them have touches of pink, blue, green or yellow in them and can therefore be used with plants of the appropriate colour. This colour is excellent for shady difficult areas to lighten and bring life to it.

If you are a person who wants lots of colour in their garden it can be the most difficult scheme to achieve purely because colour is transient and frequently changes with the seasons. If you recognise yourself here, remember that form and texture also play a really important part.

There are so many possibilities for our gardens. It is important though once you have chosen your colour scheme be strict and only plant those colours you have decided on. This will ensure that your planting holds together, creates the mood you want and doesn’t feel busy or disjointed.

Coping with Drought

Drought tolerant gardens are the way forward…

When we're designing gardens the subject of climate change sometimes crops up and we're now often being asked whether it is possible to ‘drought proof’ a garden. One garden that has succeeded famously at this is the Beth Chatto Gardens in Essex and her ‘Gravel Garden’ has been an inspiration to gardeners and designers alike. Her gravel garden works with nature and does not fight against it, she used plants that will cope in dry conditions for example, Lavender, Cistus, Bergenia, Allium, Sedum and drought resistant grasses that have not been artificially watered since around 1992!

If you are thinking about having your garden designed and are starting with a blank canvass you could consider installing an underground rainwater harvesting system, a huge undertaking to be completed before the hard landscaping begins but well worth considering. Harvested rainwater has many uses around the house, for example flushing the toilet and for use in washing machines, but it can also be used to water the garden. Today a lot of people have water butts – which are great – but they don’t last long during a period of drought which we all saw this April when we had no rain for most of the month! It is also very important to choose your plants and the location of them carefully; you need to include plants that can cope with little water yet look good most of the year; after all you do want a beautiful garden.

High water use areas are lawns, vegetable patches and flower gardens so whether you are creating a new garden or adapting one you already have some ideas below show how you can reduce water useage:

Planting choice

Plants that have the same watering needs can be grouped together
Look out for drought tolerant plants, although they will need to be watered quite a lot in the first few years they will soon become independent
Consider using limited annuals

Planting location

More needy plants can be located nearer the house making it easier to get water to them

Soil structure

Improving the structure of your soil by using manures, leaf mould etc will help soil retain water for longer

Lawns

Consider whether or not you really need a lawn or really need such a large one

Mulches

Using a decorative mulch will keep those pesky weeds down as they compete with plants for water
It reduces the effect of water evaporation

Watering

Watering the garden in the evening will ensure there is more water available to the plants for longer before the sun rises and it begins to evaporate
Plants become stronger and are more able to resist some pest and disease attacks if watered correctly, therefore watering for longer and less often encourages the plant roots to grow down through the soil rather than horizontally near the surface.

So you see, you can still have a beautiful garden if you work with nature and consider what else can be done and incorporated into the design to deal with our ever changing weather.