Garden Color

Some people like to use green as their sole garden color others want a big blast of bright colors.

Too little color and a garden can be boring.
Too much color and a garden can become so busy that it's distracting. Your eyes will keep jumping around trying to find a plant to gaze at and enjoy.

Only you can decide when you have found the right balance for your garden. It may mean adding or moving plants around to achieve some semblance of color balance but it will be well worth it in the long run.

Color Schemes

A complementary color scheme uses two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
This photo of yellow and blue flowers is a sample of a complementary garden color scheme.

Mother nature sometimes provides complementary colors on a single plant. Red roses and green foliage for example.

An analogous color scheme combines three neighboring colors.
The green, yellow and orange leaves on this tulip tree is a great sample. Most plants will have this beautiful effect in the fall.

Yellow, orange and red are the most commonly combined analagous colors for a garden.

Colors Create Movement

Cool colors are in the purple to green range on the color wheel.
Cool colors are shy and tend to hide in the background.

Read how you can create movement with garden color.

You might also enjoy reading about these other garden design principles:
The purpose of your garden.
Create garden unity through repetition.
Using shapes in your garden.
Size does matter.
Texture in your garden.

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