Colour in the Garden – Planting Plan Guidance

The colour you use in your garden will be driven by personal preference as well as style, mood & outdoor lighting. Of course plant texture and form is also very important and green as a colour in foliage should not be overlooked.

Colours also affect how you visualise something, for example red is a hot colour and draws your attention, whilst blue at the other end of the spectrum is a very cool colour that almost recedes into the background. They also elicit an emotional response – red being warm and passionate, blue cool and serene, whilst green is refreshing and relaxing.

Using the Colour Wheel for Garden Design Solutions

This is why using the colour wheel can help gardeners plant combinations to deliver the look and emotions they are trying to create in any given area of the garden. You only have to think about Paint manufacturers such as Dulux to see how they promote different colours to achieve results in different rooms and environments.

Hot colours (red, orange and yellow) are bold and stimulating but can also be too much in the wrong environment and make a space feel a little small or claustrophobic. In the UK with its temperate climate and lower light levels they need to be in full sun otherwise they lose their effect and can look dull. They also become difficult to see in poor grey weather and once the sun has gone down. Hot colours are at their best in the intense summer sun and at sunrise and sunset as well as gold autumnal light.

Cool colours (blue, green, violets, pale pinks and cream) are more subdued and actually look great in lower light levels of a more temperate UK, looking best in shade or low evening light or on a grey cloudy summer day. They can also create that calming and relaxed feeling that can be so appreciated in a garden. However, blue in particular can be difficult to see and can therefore create what appears to be a gap in a planting layout. Cool colours also help make an area feel larger than it is therefore great in smaller gardens.

These techniques can all help towards achieving a professional garden design look as well as genres such as a modern garden design feel.

Find out More about Garden Landscape Designing 

To find out more about this and creating exciting planting plans suitable for your needs as well as our other garden design services please email us on info@dpgardendesign.co.uk and contact our specialist team today.

DP Garden Design is located in Alresford, Hampshire but we are able to cover the rest of Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex. Find out how our garden design process works and how this can benefit anyone no matter the size or shape of their garden.