Color In The Garden – How To Get The Best Out Of The Different Hues

Designing color in the garden is not only a question of creating harmonies and contrasts, while avoiding clashes. It is also a matter of understanding the varying properties of the different hues, and by so doing, applying them in the garden to maximum effect.

Colors can be divided into the “warm” hues and the “cool” ones. Understanding the category to which a particular color belongs is crucial for creating mood. The warm or hot colors, (depending on how intense they are) such as red and orange, tend to excite and stimulate, while the cool colors, such as blue and green, relax and calm. Randomly mixing the two categories just creates chaos not interest.

The eye reacts in a certain way when stimulated by different colors. Red for instance, has the effect of coming towards the eye, while blue tends to recede. Designers often mass blues when the intention is to create the illusion of greater space in a small garden bed. A means of creating perspective is to place red flowers in front of blue ones, but the shades of red and blue have to be carefully chosen so as not to create a clash in both color and mood.

Unlike the interior designer, or the painter for that matter, the gardener has to contend with the varying light intensities in the garden. To compound the difficulty, these change throughout the day. This is important because hues like red and yellow look at their best in strong light, while the pastel colors; pink, sky blue, pale lemon, etc, appear weak and insipid in harsh light, but come into their own in soft light. That is why pastel color schemes that are so right for the soft light of England or Ireland, seem out of place in the fierce light intensity of the Mediterranean countries. A Bordeaux red, climbing rose for example, will look far better on a whitewashed Mediterranean wall, than a sky blue Plumbago.

Baring in mind that red, orange and yellow work best in bright light, while the blues and greens are colors of shade, a blue or pastel scheme can be designed in those parts of the garden that are partially in the shade at certain times of the day. So if the family tend to sit out in the late afternoon, when the light is considerably softer than at midday, the blues, pinks, and creams could form the heart of the color design, in that section of the garden.

Garden Design – How To Get Great Results By Using Plants Of The Same Color

A color scheme based on a single color is known as a monochromatic design. A garden bed or border so designed has the principle properties of boldness, simplicity, and clarity. It is a style that demands some courage on behalf of the designer - many, probably the majority of home gardeners are frightened off the idea, or believe they are missing out by not stuffing into the bed, as wide a range of color as possible.

At its purest, all the bedding plants in the monochromatic design would be of the same species, variety, and color. This can make for a very powerful and dramatic focal point in the garden. A strong color such as a deep red is probably more suited to the purpose than pastel ones like pink, pale lemon, or sky blue. Once, I saw a small artist’s garden, where a bed was carpeted, wall to wall, with dark red Petunias. Incredible!

In such a scheme, careful thought has to be given to the plants surrounding the border. They should provide support and in no way divert attention from the flower color. A neatly trimmed, delicately leaved, green hedge would be the best solution, although it should be remembered that red and green by being complementary colors, could create too strong a contrast with each other. A way round this problem would be to choose a hedging shrub whose leaf color is a relatively pale shade of green.

It would probably be a mistake to include more than one bed of this type in the garden. To repeat the idea, even with another color, is more likely to dissipate its power rather than enhance it. While many great gardens, such as Sissinghurst in Kent, England, are arranged around different “rooms”, such as a white garden, a yellow garden, etc, in these cases, a particular color is dominant, while nonetheless allowing for plenty of variety.

A less daring type of monochromatic garden bed is one comprising of different shades of the same color. In a red design, a transition from dark to light can be effected by maroon, crimson, bordeux, scarlet, and pink. A small blotch of dark purple could also be admitted; the blue in the purple creating a subtle contrast with the mass of red.

Similarly, A soft, cream to beige theme could be uplifted by a dash of sky blue. I discovered this recently by combining the cream blooms of Dietes bi-color, with the pale blue flowers of Agapanthus africanus.

White, silver and grey can also play their part in the one-color garden bed, as the contrast attained is one of light intensity, and not of color. A silver leaved Artemisia for instance, can create an astonishing effect amongst a mass of scarlet sages.

Garden Color Design – How To Use Contrasts And Create Harmonies Effectively

Contrast and harmony are desirable qualities in the garden because they establish a composition that has both unity and diversity. Shape size and form, like color, are responsible for the extent to which a composition works, but because the eye picks up color first, it is the most crucial factor in determining the character and quality of the garden.

Harmonious colors like harmonious shapes are those that are similar but different to each other. Red with orange, blue with green, beige with brown, have enough in common to relax and calm the eye, yet by being different, stimulate it as well. The colors that form harmonious combinations are adjacent to each other on the prismatic color wheel.

Harmonious schemes are not necessarily quiet and restrained. A group of “warm” colors like red, orange, brown, and deep, reddish purple is likely to be fiery and stimulating. Excitement can also be induced without affecting the color harmony, by using lighter or darker versions of the same color, or by introducing silver–leaved plants to the composition. In this respect, white, has a similar function to silver and grey.

It is a fact that color effects peoples’ mood. While the hot colors stimulate, the cold colors calm and relax. Mixing colors at random mixes the mood as well, creating discord and chaos, instead of contrast, which to work effectively, has to be balanced with harmony.

It follows therefore that contrasting colors have to be used very carefully and sparingly. Their purpose, as previously mentioned, is to lift up the garden where that is necessary. The strongest contrasts occur with the combination of the complementary colors, which are those that are opposite each other on the color wheel. In order to avoid clashes, the contrasting color can be of similar intensity to the harmonious colors with which it is contrasting. For instance, Red and green are complementary colors. If you are looking for a color to contrast with a cool green and blue group, a pink colored rose could provide the contrast, as opposed to a rose with Bordeaux or flaming, orange flowers, which are liable to clash with blues and greens.

The over-use of dramatic contrasts, while meant to create interest, ironically become monotonous and dull, once the initial excitement has passed. An example of this is the peppering of deep, purple-leaved plants throughout the garden. Have you ever listened to a piece of music that knocked you out on first listening, only to leave you with a flat feeling afterwards?

Color In the Garden – Do You Use It As Would A Professional Designer Or An Inexperienced Amateur?

Color is often handled in the garden in a haphazard, random fashion. Many a home gardener is satisfied by the simple fact of colorful patches in the garden, without giving much thought as to whether the color scheme works, or if one can speak of a color design in any meaningful sense of the word. A garden that is described by a visitor as a “riot of color” may cause its owner to beam with pride and fulfillment, but should the recipient of the “complement” be quite so satisfied with him or herself?

Allow me to be personal for a moment and ask you to imagine that your sitting room was so described. Better still, how would you feel if someone said that the outfit you wore at a dinner party was a “riot of color”? The crucial point is that what works and does not work in interior design or in dress, does not work in the garden either. Professional garden designers, while trying to achieve an artistic effect, actually approach the question of color in a systematic, almost a scientific way. Let’s consider some of the points they would cover.

The first question is what mood are you trying to create? Two facts are worth noting here. One is that the eye generally picks out color before shape and size, so the colors you choose will inevitably have a considerable influence on people who use the garden. The other is that different colors definitely affect peoples’ mood. The “hot” colors like red and orange tend to excite and stimulate, while the “cool” colors like blue, tend to exert a calming influence.

Secondly, the garden designer makes a strategic decision at some point in the design process as to whether the color scheme will be monochromatic, (based on a single color) harmonious, or contrasting, although the decision in favor of one type of scheme, does not necessarily preclude elements of the other two types. A design could be essentially harmonious, based say on greens, pale lemon and gold, with a small splash of light blue for contrast.

A monochromatic design is inevitably simple, bold, and powerful, although it could be boring and one-dimensional if not handled imaginatively. A harmonious design, based on colors that are adjacent to one another on the prismatic color wheel, is likely to be relaxing, while if drama is called for, or the composition requires uplifting, then contrast is one of the means at the designer’s disposal. The strongest contrasts are achieved by the complementary colors, that is those that are directly opposite each other on the wheel. Differing hues of red and green, orange and blue, yellow and violet can create stunning affects if used wisely, but horrible clashes if not.

The simplest way of learning which colors go well together, and the affect they create, is to thumb through fashion and design books. For a deeper understanding of color though, it is worthwhile visiting art galleries and try to discern how the artist creates mood, movement, and perspective. The impressionists especially, were masters at using color for these purposes. The trick then, is to apply the abstract principles to the reality of your garden. That needless to say, is easier said than done!

Choosing Shrubs For A Dry Climate Garden – How To Think Like A Professional Designer

When choosing which shrubs to include in your garden, your starting point may be based on your favorite likes and dislikes. As counter intuitive as it may sound, this approach is mistaken. Instead, you can think like a professional garden designer, by allotting a specific design role to each element in the garden, including the landscape shrubs and bushes.

Landscape shrubs usually, but not exclusively, play a supporting part in the garden composition. As a quiet backdrop to a dazzling flowerbed, an ornamental statue, or a water feature, they enhance the focal point role of the above. Bushes in such circumstances therefore, ought to be non-flowering types, and not unduly showy and spectacular. It is also preferable that their foliage texture be medium to fine, as opposed to course; fine leaf texture being a property of small sized and delicately shaped leaves. Examples of such ornamental bushes that are suitable for dry climate and Mediterranean gardens, include species of Myrtle, Cotoneaster, Pistachio, Syzygium, Sumac, and Carissa.

In addition to acting as a background, landscape shrubs also have the functional purpose of screening for privacy or for blocking out undesirable views. For this, ornamental bushes can either form part of an informal screen, or a more formal, trimmed hedge. Species for the latter role should always be of the fine-textured variety, whereas more flexibility is possible with the former. Care should be taken however, to ensure that the shape, form, and foliage texture of the screening shrubs associates well with the trees and other plant types in the garden. Species of Melaleuca, Callistemon, and Grevillea, (fine textured plants) or Elaeagnus, Pittosporum, Viburnum and Ligustrum, (medium textured plants) are examples of screening shrubs for dry climates.

Many ornamental bushes sport showy blooms. Some like Hibiscus rosa-sinensis or Plumbago auriculata flower for long periods through the summer, a feature that for some curious reason does not always endear them to the home gardener. Duranta erecta is especially beautiful and suitable in mild-winter climates, whereas Nerium Oleander has to be one of the showiest shrubs available. The plant’s toxic properties however make it too dangerous for the home garden.

The golden rule when it comes to flowering shrubs is that they do not compete for attention with the garden’s focal point. Pay attention as well to the shape, size, and texture of the shrubs’ flowers, remembering that these too have to combine appropriately with the other garden elements. Does the large, course flower of Chinese Hibiscus for instance, look right next to the delicate, pincushion blooms of Callistemon or Albizzia julibrissen?

Shrubs that have sculptural qualities or colored foliage are used sparingly and judiciously by the professional designer, while the naïve or inexperienced gardener tends to get carried away by the novelty of an “unusual” plant. The primary function of such plants is that of emphasis, rather like a loud moment in a symphony. Yucca for instance, can rise out of a sea of low ornamental grasses, the narrow, sword-like foliage combining with the similar foliage of the prostrate plants. Never forget, that the emphasis plant, while contrasting from the mass in some way – size, form, color, or texture - must have at least one morphological property in common with them. That is how a professional designer thinks in any case.

Designing Your Garden – Adopting The Professional Designer’s Approach

Designing your garden not only involves creating a grand plan from A-Z, but also adding some shrubs or bedding plants to an existing composition. Whatever its scale or significance, any change in the garden should be approached with the mindset and attitude of a professional designer. While not everyone can successfully design a garden, there is nothing preventing you from seeing things as would a top designer.

A professional designer rigorously distinguishes between two separate aspects. One involves the subjective taste, needs, and desires of the customer. Creating a magnificent garden that is unsuited to the homeowner is like cooking a superb beefsteak for a vegetarian. The tendency of the average home gardener though, is to focus entirely on what he or she wants and likes, and to include plants in the garden on that basis alone, often or not after simply thumbing through a plant catalogue.

The second aspect, one that the homeowner is liable to ignore, involves choosing garden features, whether they be plants or otherwise, according to the universal and objective principles of design. The professional designer assigns a specific role to each element – paths, paving, lawns, trees, statues, or flowers, and places them in one of three categories.

The Dominant and Support Factors

A successful garden composition must have a clear motif. This could take the form of a focal point, such as a water feature, a statue, or a boldly designed flowerbed. From this all else flows. For instance, when choosing shrubs to form a backdrop to showy flowers, if your mindset is “I like”, you may choose species that have spectacular blooms.

The designer on the other hand, is more likely to view the showy flowers of the bushes as competing with the flowerbed. He or she would probably choose quiet, green shrubs instead, in order to provide support to the flowerbed, rather as the choir supports the lead soprano, or as the orchestra, backs the first violin.

The Sub-Dominant Factor

A complete composition will include factors that echo the dominant feature, but at a reduced level of intensity. Let’s take a water fountain as an example of the centerpiece or focal point of the garden. While the lawn, deck paving, or wooden fence surrounding it, would clearly belong to the support category, how can a sub-dominant factor be established?

One possibility would be to plant ornamental grasses close to the water feature, as the billowing, fountain-like form of the grasses (and other narrow leaved plants) would echo the movement of the water! In this way, the water feature’s role is enhanced, while peppering annual flowers around the fountain would weaken its role, by competing with it.

Everyone has their likes and dislikes. However, if you can detach yourself from them to some extent, as would a top garden designer, and ask yourself if the plants you intend to add to the garden are likely to enhance the composition, or liable to detract from it, you will stand a far greater chance of achieving satisfying results.

Weed Management – The Herbicides You Should Really Be Wary Of Using

Chemical weed killers or herbicides should be used as sparingly as possible in gardens as a whole, but especially in private ones. Excessive use of them is bad for the ecological balance in the garden itself, as much wild life is deterred from establishing itself, and in the wider sense, is a serious form of pollution.

Nonetheless, it is not easy to desist entirely from their application, although highly committed organic gardeners insist on doing so. As a devil’s advocate at least, one can outline the circumstances in which the use of herbicides is the most effective way of managing particularly troublesome weeds.

For example, virulent perennial weeds like Convolvulus, Cyperus, and Oxalis can totally ruin an herbaceous border, or a carpet of ground covers, unless eradicated prior to planting. Sometimes, the only way of getting on top of the perennial lawn grass that has crept into the flowerbed is to spray it with a selective, anti-grass weed killer. It is even possible, paradoxically, to justify on ecological grounds, the chemical treatment of invasive alien species that potentially can devastate a natural habitat by replacing the local flora and in consequence, the fauna that is associated with it.

Yet whether you use herbicides with extreme reticence or otherwise, there are two types of weed killer that should be avoided altogether in small, private gardens. One is the pre-emergent category, that are sprayed or spread in granular form on the ground to deal with weed seeds that are about to germinate, while the other type is a group of herbicides that selectively kill broad leaved plants, without damaging grasses and other monocots. Other than environmental considerations, the application of either group often inflicts serious damage to garden plants in the vicinity, including those in neighboring gardens.

The problem with the pre-emergent weed killers is that they contain residual properties, remaining active in the soil’s top layer for a certain period of time. If the amount applied is excessive relative to the area treated, then either the soil or neighboring plants may suffer.

They are actually less dangerous when used in large open spaces, because at least the application rate can be easily calibrated. On the other hand, the granular forms that are generally recommended for spreading over small spaces, are far more difficult to calibrate accurately. For herbaceous beds in private gardens, it is preferable from every point of view, to reduce weed germination by means of an organic mulch.

The selective herbicides that are applied to eliminate broadleaved plants, are derivatives of the dreaded 2-4 D. They operate by disrupting the hormonal balance of the plant. They are dangerous because they evaporate very rapidly, resulting in vapors containing the poison landing on garden plants.

They are used primarily, to treat non-grass weeds such as dandelions, growing in lawns. Make every effort to avoid applying them, even if you have to hand weed every few days or so. Otherwise, make sure that only a qualified and experienced operator carries out the spraying. Needless to say, the hormonal herbicides must never be used in hot, dry, weather, let alone in even slightly windy conditions.

Unfortunately, some noxious perennials like Convolvulus, (Bindweed) are partially resistant to Glyphosate preparations (like Roundup) and can only be eradicated by use of some weed killers that belong to the latter category. Due to the danger involved though, it is better not to apply such weed killers in private gardens.

Garden Centers And Plant Nurseries – The Three Points to Look Out For

With the rising cost of plants today, many home gardeners are understandably tempted to seek out less showy garden centers, and buy their garden plants at cheaper establishments. This is all very well, but as with most things, cheap can prove to be very dear indeed. While a cheap plant nursery is not necessarily a bad one, it should pass three tests before you consider buying plants from it.

Plant Labels

The sign of a professional nursery is that the plants are labeled properly and clearly. This is important not simply for the convenience of the customer, but as an indication of how seriously the establishment takes plant identification. While the label may contain the plant’s common name, it ought to include its botanical name as well. A nursery that is sloppy about its labeling is liable to sell you the wrong plant! Remember that plants in their juvenile state can be difficult to identify by appearance, and so to a great extent, the purchaser is dependent on the professionalism and good faith of the garden center.

Weeds

Heavy weed infestations are clearly a sign of a poorly run plant nursery. More serious though is the nursery’s potential as a source of noxious weeds, especially of the dangerously invasive type entering your garden. As a gardening contractor and regular purchaser of plants, I always enquire whether the plants are grown in a potting medium, or in garden soil. Remember that it is much cheaper for the nursery to grow its plants in garden soil, but then the danger of dangerous weeds is greatly increased. With regard to weeds, cheap could spell disaster!

The Quality of the Plants

Plants that look poor are less likely to develop as successful garden specimens than those that seem to be in good shape. However, here a nasty trap could be waiting for the unwary, because a handsome appearance is not necessarily the sign of a worthy plant. On the contrary, a top-heavy specimen, that is one that is disproportionately large for its container, is liable to have a tangled and knotted root system, which may prevent it from breaking out into the garden soil after planting. A plant that has outgrown its container, should long have been potted on into a larger one, and is another sign of a poorly run establishment.

On the other hand, a small plant in a large container is also undesirable as the plant’s roots could be starved of air. Considering that the retail price of plants is largely a function of the container size, it follows that in such cases, the customer is getting an inferior specimen at an inflated price.

Choosing Plants In A Garden Center – Important Tips For Getting It Right

The one thing you should not do when visiting a plant nursery or garden center is to try to design the planting scheme. The decision as to which species should go where should have been made long before arriving at the nursery. Impulse buying may be fine in a gift shop or at the supermarket, but could be disastrous when it comes to the garden. The only decision that should be made in the garden center concerns the quality of the plants in the pots. What then constitutes a good plant, and what should you be looking to avoid?

*The first point to consider is whether there is a reasonable balance between the size of the plant and the volume of its pot. A specimen that is top-heavy is liable to have a knotted, tangled root system that might not grow out into the soil after planting. So don’t be over impressed by a handsome looking plant growing in a disproportionately small container.

*Conversely, a small plant sitting in a relatively large container is also undesirable, because the potting medium could lack sufficient air. If such conditions are prolonged, the roots might be unhealthy and even starting to rot. Ideally therefore, the root system should comfortably fill the volume of the plant’s container.

*The best time to choose tree and shrub specimens is when they are bare rooted, because one has the opportunity to study the plant’s root system. Look for specimens that have a number of well-spaced, unblemished roots, while avoiding like the plague, those whose roots show signs of damage, or are knotted to any degree.

Planting bare-root is only possible of course with deciduous plants and when they are out of leaf during their dormant season. For the most part we have to rely on container plants and hope for the best. For herbaceous plants, and even for shrubs and bushes, the guidelines just outlined should suffice in most cases. Trees though are another matter, and some additional considerations are necessary. Above all, be wary of two situations.

*The first is a tree specimen that has been subjected to poor pruning, with visibly large and unsightly pruning wounds. In such cases, rot may well be developing within the main branches and even the trunk. The question always arises in my mind as to what is going on in the root zone if the visible parts of the tree appear so poor!

*Secondly, avoid trees whose trunk is long and leggy, or excessively tall and thin. Such specimens tend to be particularly vulnerable in inclement weather, remaining weedy and miserable for years.

Landscape Gardening – Choosing Plants With Colored Foliage

There is a large range of plants with colored foliage available to the gardener today. Reddish-purple, golden-yellow, silver, and grey-leaved plants, not to speak of the many types of variegated leaf, abound in nurseries and garden centers. Amongst all the plant forms – from trees to ground covers, one can find varieties that have brightly colored leaves. The challenge is to use them wisely and not be carried away by false notions of novelty or originality.

In fact, peppering the garden with such plants is the first sign of design naïveté. Green is the foliage color that should dominate most planting schemes, while plants with colored foliage should be used very sparingly as an emphasis, a contrast, and even a focal point in the garden.

There are of course endless variations of unusually colored leaves, but they can be reduced to four main groups. As a gardener in a Mediterranean country, I will restrict my examples to those with which I am familiar.

*Red or deep-purple foliage generally creates the most striking effect, but over-use can make the garden look depressing and somber. Prunus pisardii is a small plum tree, while the large shrub, Cotinus coggygria, is well known beyond Mediterranean climates. For mild winter regions, I suggest Euphorbia cotinifolia, which if kept at about 1-2 meters by annual pruning, is particularly beautiful. Let’s not forget also, the mainstay, Berberis thunbergii.

It may also be worth considering bedding plants with red-purple foliage, such as the varieties of Joyweed (Alternanthera) which can really “hold” an herbaceous border through the long, hot, Mediterranean summer. This plant should be used as an annual anywhere but in the mildest of winter climates.

*Plants with golden-colored leaves make for a less dramatic, but perhaps more subtle contrast with the mass of green foliage. For subtlety, it is best to study the size and shape of the leaf, before rushing in with a colored plant. These should be as similar as possible to the green-leaved plants. Hence, the feathery texture of Melaleuca “Revolution Gold” or Melaleuca “Green Dome”, combine well with junipers for instance and other species of Melaleuca.

An amazingly beautiful shrub is Duranta erecta “Golden”. It has small, oval leaves, and so goes well with such shrubs as Cotoneaster, Sumac, Pistachio, and Myrtle. Planting it next to a course-leaved bush like Hibiscus, would be a mistake in my view.

*Plants with variegated leaves are probably the most ill used amongst inexperienced gardeners. Again, the mistake is to plant too many of them, thereby turning the unusual into the common. They are most effective in shady corners, where they create a dappled-light effect, but they tend to look sickly in full sun,

*Grey and silver–leaves are perhaps easier to use without descending into banality. They are most appropriate in Mediterranean style gardens, but seem out of place amongst lush, tropical plants. Grey-leaved shrubs should be planted in very small numbers, although some species, such as Grey Owl Juniper, or the fabulous Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens) can be superb, especially in contrast to red-leaved plants.

Silver-leaved plants really come into their own in herb gardens, where they appear most at home. From an aesthetic point of view, in addition to a culinary or herbal one, plants like Lavender, Artemisia, and Sage are great, while grey-leaved grasses, such as Festuca glauca, are useful additions to an herbaceous border.

Agapanthus africanus – An Essential Perennial For A Mild Winter Climate Garden

Agapanthus africanus is an evergreen perennial that is ideally suited to an herbaceous border in a Mediterranean and mild winter climate. Although its flowering period is brief, the plant looks good virtually all the year round. This makes it especially useful as a bedding plant, as it provides some stability between the annuals that have to be frequently replaced, and those perennials that require cutting down every so often.

Agapanthus, which is sometimes known as Lily-of-the Nile, forms clumps of narrow, fountain-like leaves. Like ornamental grasses and grass-like plants, it provides a vertical accent at a low height. This is considerably accentuated by the tall flower stalks that rise up to some 40cm above the plant. The spherical clusters of flowers are usually a deep blue, although white varieties are also available.

While Agapanthus africanus is most commonly used dotted among more prostrate plants, a large mass in bloom, can create a most stunning effect. I created a garden a couple of years ago for a customer who happens to be an artist. It was her idea, to which at first I strongly objected, to mass the Agapanthus in a long, narrow border. Needless to say, she was right and I was wrong, as the sight of the mass of blue, flower stalks is absolutely dramatic.

This is one more illustration of the benefits of bold planting. Admittedly, there is some risk involved in using one species and one color in a single bed, but on the other hand, it is one of the surest ways of creating a clear, bold composition, not to speak of an unusually exciting one.

Agapanthus africanus is one amongst several closely related species. Native to South Africa, they can grow in most soil types providing there is adequate drainage. The plants will rot in poorly drained soil, particularly in the winter. It is worthwhile therefore, to add well-rotted compost or worm castings to the soil on a regular basis. From my experience, there is little need to add chemical fertilizer, at least with established plants.

Although requiring some additional water during the dry season, Agapanthus grows satisfactorily under a water-conserving regime. It is therefore better for Mediterranean and dry climate plant groupings than tropical ones. It flowers best in full sun, but can suffer in very hot locations. It is advisable therefore to keep the roots cool by means of an organic mulch around the plants. It is also important to divide the clumps every 3-5 years or so.