Before you rush out to purchase plants in all of your favorite colors, there’s one ground rule you need to heed before anything else: Know the particulars of your existing garden. “The biggest mistake people make when planning gardens is not realizing that their property is unique,” says New York-based landscape designer Laura McKillop, who teaches a course on color at the New York Botanical Garden. “Do you have a lot of shade or sun? What color are your house and the buildings surrounding your garden? These factors may have a lot of impact on successful color choices.”
Balancing Act
Your garden should reflect your color preferences, but it’s important to strike a balance between personality and practicality. “Are you looking for a bright pop of color while you sit in your garden in the morning? Or do you spend most of your time in the garden in the evening?” says Kate Smith, an internationally recognized color expert and president of Sensational Color, a Virginia-based consulting company. “Different colors work better at different times of day.”
A night garden, which incorporates white and silvery foliage and blooms, makes an impressive statement and brightens shady spots, Smith says, but in the daytime, especially in a sunny site, bright colors such as red or orange prevent the garden from looking washed out.
Coloring Rules
Books, plant catalogs and design courses are great sources for inspiration, but a color wheel, which is sold at many art-supply stores, is an easy-to-use tool for the color-challenged gardener. Combine lights and darks of one color, pick three side-by-side colors or select a range of hues—all warm or all cool colors. Or pair two colors from opposite sides of the wheel, such as purple and yellow or blue and orange.
