Crisp mornings, warm, sunny days with beautiful blue skies and trees filled with blossoms – Spring is definitely in the air making it the perfect time for brightening up our outdoor spaces with creative design ideas for landscaping with colour, style and function.
When you think about it, gardens are really all about colour and that colour can come from flowers, foliage, mulch, pots, furniture, home décor, fences, lighting and even artwork. Our gardens are for relaxation, entertaining and to provide a haven away from the stresses of the outside world and they give our homes great street appeal. Colour in the garden can be soothing and calm or vivacious and exciting and it can be attention-seeking upfront and centre or something much more laid back and subtle.
Whatever your choices, introducing colour is the ultimate goal and many colour schemes can work in your garden and so long as you like it and it suits the vibe and style you were aiming for, then you will love it and be drawn out into it. However, having an understanding of the basic principles of using colour in design utilising the garden colour wheel, will help turn your garden design dreams into reality. Here are some tips for successful landscaping with colour.
Matching the Colours of Your House and Garden
A well-coordinated colour palette incorporating existing architecture and indoor colour schemes will enhance and consolidate your ideas resulting in a cohesive landscape design.
One way to link your house and garden is to match some of either the retaining walls, pavers, privacy screens and plant coloured foliage of flowers to the existing exterior paint. Your house colour forms a backdrop for your garden and other landscaping elements complement or contrast this to create your desired style.
Tip: Use a garden colour wheel to identify colours that will work in harmony or contrast to your house colours.
Greens, browns, and beiges of nature integrate into your garden easiest as the house already blends with the surrounding landscape. Then the colour provided by flowers or foliage is needed for contrast and most plant colours will display well against these natural tones of your house.
Pastel-coloured houses are colourful yet can also softly blend into the natural landscape. When dealing with pastel-colours, the garden’s colour scheme should relate to—or contrast nicely with—the house colour. A cool house colour works well with cool plant colours because they are harmonious. To spice things up, combine colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel for maximum contrast.
Bright house colours are dramatic and should be paired with equally spectacular colours in the garden. With a bright house colour, include rich plantings with vivid hues and striking foliage.
Muted colours or grey are more versatile as backdrops acting more as neutrals than pure pastels or very bright colours. An exact match between landscaping materials, plants and paint is not as important with muted shades as many colours blend with the neutral tones of your home.
Landscaping with colour in your garden design
Varying shades of colour have a huge effect on the mood, ambience, and perception of a garden design. The theme or feel you are trying to convey within your design is greatly influenced by the colours you choose to use, in both plant and hard landscaping material selection.
If you were wanting a coastal/water theme that is intended to be calming and relaxing then you might include blues, violets and purples with the background of green. Or, you might instead choose to create a warm, homely and welcoming feel of an English garden theme using more pinks and yellows with light stone work.
Whatever style you choose for your own garden design, the use of colour within it can make or break the final effect of your design.
For help selecting a theme, colours or with landscaping with colour in your outdoor spaces, contact Luke – 0434 355 066, he would love to help you create your dream garden. Follow our most recent landscaping projects on Facebook.