Color in Landscaping
V. Topp
My husband and I just started landscaping our yard and I am looking for
tips on adding color. I've read that if you have a large lot (we do)
you should stick to warm colors which advance. We planted two lilac
bushes (one at each side of our house). Their blossoms will be mauve
(a cool color, I think). Our house is grey with white trim.
We planted three goldflame spirea in our kidney-shaped bed in the
centre of our front lawn, two snowbound spirea and a mugo pine.
I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
yet, only shrubs, evergreens and a couple lilac bushes.
Thank you.
Janet & John Wintermute
bt...@isisnet.com (V. Topp) wrote:
Congratulations on recognizing that the color of your house is crucial
in making smart and aesthetically pleasing choices about color in your
yard. If I see just one more white frame colonial with white azaleas
blooming out front, I'll--well it won't be pretty. Another local
unfavorite: dark red brick with fuchsia azaleas....
Grey with white trim makes a lovely backdrop and doesn't limit you at
all. (My house is sided in light-yellow vinyl, quite another story.)
The builder of my subdivision lives 2 doors away, and his house is
light grey and white. I've been moving him into a red-white-and-blue
color scheme because he is crazy about red geraniums. For 1996, we've
got him working with Vinca 'Pacifica Red' (a cherry red), portulaca
'Sundial Scarlet,' and leadwort (a blue perennial). In '94 I got him
to put in a big swath of a pink mum from Price Club, and they did fine
again last fall. He is working with a sunny, baked slope, and a prior
planting of ornamental grasses is now well established with big,
waving plumes of white that last for months. There's also some sedum
'Autumn Joy' for fallish color.
A monochromatic scheme could be stunning in your setting. An
all-white treatment like the famous garden at Sissinghurst Castle in
England might be smashing, especially if your house is dark grey.
Another nice thing about white is how it shows up at night when you're
entertaining.
Try to have something interesting going on all season long if you can.
This entails studying the bloom time of your plantings and picking
choices that keep at least one or two things at peak viewing status
all the time. I believe color blocking (all daffodils the same
variety, big chunks of color instead of mixed borders, etc.) is more
impressive, especially with a big property to decorate.
It will take you some years to get everything right, so don't be out
of patience with yourselves. A landscape professional should be
consulted in the near term, especially if you are contemplating
expensive construction goobers like a water feature.
Above all, trust your own sense of what's appealing and approriate.
If you're crazy about coral, go for it:
Geranium 'Orbit Salmon'
Rose 'Climbing America'
Vinca 'Apricot Delight'
Pansy 'Paparadjah'
Canna 'City of Portland'
Azalea 'Coral Bells'
Impatiens 'Shady Lady Coral' or 'Salmon'
Tulip 'Apricot Beauty'
This group of 8 coral varieties, all of which I've grown successfully
in USDA Zone 7, will keep something in bloom from May through frost.
Similar lists could be worked up for any color you like with certain
tweaks to take into account your climatic situation.
--Janet Wintermute
gardening just outside the nation's capital
Liz Albrook
V. Topp wrote:
>
> My husband and I just started landscaping our yard and I am looking for
> tips on adding color. I've read that if you have a large lot (we do)
> you should stick to warm colors which advance. We planted two lilac
> bushes (one at each side of our house). Their blossoms will be mauve
> (a cool color, I think). Our house is grey with white trim.
>
> We planted three goldflame spirea in our kidney-shaped bed in the
> centre of our front lawn, two snowbound spirea and a mugo pine.
>
> I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
> with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
> like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
> yet, only shrubs, evergreens and a couple lilac bushes.
>
I'd the colors you use should depend on what you like.
The house where I grew up sat on 2 acres of land that had been in the family
for generations. The landscaping was simple: the plants reflected the the
tastes of all the people who had come before us as well as our tastes. There
were lots of azaleas, hydrangeas, camellias, dogwoods, native bush "honeysuckles",
bulbs, etc. The backdrop for the backyard was a wooded area. Different sections of
the yard had different character, depending on the number, type and color of plants.
I'm sure that one can landscape with a more rigorous approach of 2 colors or 4 colors
in precise percentages and arrive at a very nice looking yard. But at the same time
I'm also sure that there are literally thousands if not millions of ways to landscape
the same lawn that encompass a more free form approach that will be equally nice
looking. The "best" way to landscape any yard of any size is to examine your likes
and dislikes and encorporate your vision of "best" into your land. Perhaps I'm just
ignorant but any book or person who said that any lawn of a particular size should
be landscaped in a certain number of colors in a particular ratio should be ignored.
Ganja Din
bt...@isisnet.com (V. Topp) wrote:
>My husband and I just started landscaping our yard and I am looking for
>tips on adding color. I've read that if you have a large lot (we do)
>you should stick to warm colors which advance. We planted two lilac
>bushes (one at each side of our house). Their blossoms will be mauve
>(a cool color, I think). Our house is grey with white trim.
>We planted three goldflame spirea in our kidney-shaped bed in the
>centre of our front lawn, two snowbound spirea and a mugo pine.
>I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
>with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
>like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
>yet, only shrubs, evergreens and a couple lilac bushes.
>Thank you.
First of all,throw away that book :-)
It's your yard - you're the boss.You know what colors you like and you
know what looks good together.This is my first year as a homeowner and
I'm having alot of fun putting together plantings around my house and
yard.I've come up with some strange combinations-red hibiscus and
sunflowers in one area,orange gerbera daisies and blue lisa in
another.They look great and I've had quite a few compliments.
Just have fun! :-)
Joe
Laura Mironsky
bt...@isisnet.com (V. Topp) wrote:
>My husband and I just started landscaping our yard and I am looking for
>tips on adding color. I've read that if you have a large lot (we do)
>you should stick to warm colors which advance.
>I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
>with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
>like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
>yet, only shrubs, evergreens and a couple lilac bushes.
.>>> I don't think there is a "right" in gardening. Which book did you
read this in? There is only dead :-( ( wrong plant, wrong spot,
conditions etc.) or not dead :-) (you got it right) Grow whatever
you like. Talk to other people in your area about what grows in your
area. If you see someones yard you admire, go talk to them. You'll
find that most gardeners are * more* than happy to talk about their
gardens. You may even get a few cuttings out of the chat :-)
Laura Mironsky
bt...@isisnet.com (V. Topp) wrote:
>My husband and I just started landscaping our yard and I am looking for
>tips on adding color. I've read that if you have a large lot (we do)
>you should stick to warm colors which advance. <snip>
>I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
>with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
>like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
>yet, only shrubs, evergreens and a couple lilac bushes.
.>> In what book did you read this? I don't think there is any
"right" in gardening. Only dead :-( Wrong spot, plant, conditions,
etc.) or not dead :-) ( you got it right). Grow what you like.
Talk to people in your area to find out what grows well there. If you
see someones garden you admire go talk to them.
Most gardeners are *more* than happy to talk about their gardens. You
might even end up with some free cuttings. :-)
Laura, (building an ark)
Lee Cudlip
> bt...@isisnet.com (V. Topp) wrote:
m colors which advance. <snip>
>
> >I read that you should have 70% of one color and 30% other. Please bear
> >with me, I know very little about gardening and landscaping but would
> >like to get it right first time around. We haven't planted any flowers
I continue to firmly believe that there is a difference between
landscaping and gardening. You can't get it right the first time
around (or the 20th) and that's the whole point. Trial and error
teaches you more than a one off, perfect garden design (which
does not exist) . And 70% of this, 30% of that = 100% crap IMHO.
Plant whatever you like. Grab whatever's on sale and throw it
in. Get plants from other people's gardens. Try it, you will
like it.
Lee