How to Make Your Brick Home Blend Beautifully With the Landscape

Brick is a top U.S. home exterior choice. The Georgian brick home—grand scale, formal lines—personifies the American dream for many. Typically, Georgian homes have boxwood foundation plantings. But homeowners rarely want to be typical.

In our hectic world, we seek peaceful continuity in personal spaces. A large part is creating seamless home-garden dialogue. Whether brick, stone, siding, or stucco, we can take cues from our houses to make them truly at home in our landscapes. Let's explore working with brick.

Play Off Your Brick's Dominant Color

On initial garden design consultations, I first note the home's exterior. Brick generally contains many hues and tones. Creating harmonious flow involves isolating these tones and planning to pull them into the garden.

This home's brick predominantly shows pink tones. Thoughtful pink begonia installation near the entrance pulls color forward in a harmonious scheme experienced in stages. Horizontal white hosta blooms directly in front mimic white porch columns.

In landscapes, green is a neutral grounding the space. Create this foundation first, then embellish with appropriate colors, shapes, textures. Green is like a rug pulling together eclectic furniture—a calm neutral giving the eye rest, preventing busy-ness. Too much green, however, seems unimaginative.

Here, green siding tone contains gray complementing brick's secondary gray. Darker green ground cover provides scheme foundation. Older hydrangea blooms near wood bench subtly repeat brick's pink tones. Don't overlook seasonal interest bridging home and garden.

Pull Out Secondary Colors

Brick primarily pink with dark red highlights. Burgundy coleus accentuates brick's red—without it, red goes unnoticed. Accentuating secondary color adds depth and dimension.

Columnar sweet gum trees accentuate height and urban feel; weeping cherry contrasts and reinforces container planting mounding shapes. Reinforcing color with color and shapes with shapes gives a designer look.

Don't overlook patio furniture for pulling brick hues into garden. Instead of reinforcing primary orange hue with orange cushions/umbrella, this designer pulled from secondary black—contemporary and elegant.

Paint Your Brick

If you simply dislike your brick color, consider painting—expensive but good option.

White brick is clean and classic. White climbing roses add texture and dimension elegantly. Continuing white flowers throughout further grounds the home.

What You Need to Know Before Painting Brick

Nearly monochromatic gray home and garden work on several levels. Gray zigzag sidewalk pulls eye to front door. Ornamental grass in similar tone reinforces quiet subtlety; seed heads repeat front door color with textural interest. Only vibrant color: aqua chairs. If front door were this color, space mood would differ entirely.

Use Complementary Colors

Until now we've played it safe, pulling hues/tones from house to garden. Dare to mix it up by consulting the color wheel for complementary colors (opposites). Orange and blue are complements. Orange brick with ornamental blue fescue (Festuca glauca) makes a statement. Both hues containing gray gives interest and continuity without being overly loud.