Garden Design Essentials: Harnessing the Power of Color

Anyone who has walked into a room painted in a dull or garish palette knows the power of color. Color intuitively influences emotions—soothing spa or electrifying casino. In a garden landscape, color plays an equally powerful role.

Our color choices create a garden that is nurturing, romantic, playful, tranquil, or exciting. Although you may hear strict rules like "Never plant anything orange" or "Don't use blue, purple, red in beds and borders," I think any color can fit in a landscape.

Color is highly subjective and personal. Design, plant, and decorate with your favorites. Let's follow the rainbow and lessons from the color wheel to make choices that establish mood, infuse energy, or define a theme outdoors. Perhaps you'll see new possibilities.

More in This Garden Design Series

Lines | Rhythm | Shape and Mass | Space | Texture

Red

Vivid red commands attention. This assertive red pool punches up a natural landscape and dramatically defines space. Surrounding retaining wall is a milder shade.

Interior designers traditionally energize a quiet room with a splash of red—accent pillow, pottery, single wall. Similarly, this contemporary neutral house gets a lift with a cherry-red front door.

Red in small doses gives dynamic attitude. If pure red too intense, try a tint (lighter) or shade (darker). Extend from soft pinks to deep burgundies. Terra-cotta-red Adirondack chairs eye-catching but don't compete with natural landscape.

Just past this garden's entry: blaze of red flowering salvia in crescent bed emphasizing space. Blue-green and turquoise—complementary hues opposite red on color wheel—appear in glazed urn and succulent plantings.

A little color goes a long way. Brains respond more quickly to red than any other color; even a small accent energizes—like a single red butterfly chair on a small covered veranda.

Orange

Orange is an essential garden accent; its presence naturally elicits a smile. This orange door welcomes and lends moderating warmth to industrial charcoal and concrete palette.

Tangerine touches add whimsy but landscape is sophisticated. Less is more with orange; designer balances bright orange textiles, natural wood furniture, raised beds with foliage plants. Variations from terra-cotta to peach to coral—don't need hypnotic orange alone.

Yellow

Golden foliage instantly brightens a space, makes small garden appear larger. Variations from warm amber to intense sunflower. This design demonstrates monochromatic approach—all tones of one color, dark to light.

Related: Focus Your Garden Palette

Simple addition of two marigold-yellow accent pillows makes a contemporary green and gravel garden glow.

Blue

Calming and peaceful, blue was once considered unattainable in gardens—rare in nature (pursuit of blue Himalayan poppy, rose industry's obsession with blue hybrid tea).

Compelling blue presence appears with periwinkle paint, turquoise-tile pool, aqua cushions. Blue cools us down. No pool? Paint birdbath inside, display glazed blue pottery, lay blue tile path.

Once flower and foliage colors star in landscape, guide nonplant material decisions. Edit and enhance palette with painted structures, furniture, artful objects. Two sky-blue rocking chairs make front porch as important to color story as blooms.

Violet

Love how this setting reads: small cluster of purple flowers (looks like Geranium 'Rozanne'), then purple front door and accent pot—a triple treat! Lilacs and hydrangeas are purple, but not just nostalgic. Purple can be modern. Color experts say mix of energizing red and calming blue makes purple complex, working with both warm and cool schemes.

Basic Rules of the Color Wheel

Art lessons begin with color wheel basics. Red, blue, yellow are primary colors; secondary colors combine two primaries: orange (red+yellow), green (blue+yellow), purple (red+blue). Tertiary colors combine one primary with one secondary.

Adding white creates a tint; adding black creates a shade.

Primary palette of vivid blue pool has another primary accent in yellow-chartreuse Japanese maple, uplit for emphasis.

Enliven quiet spot with complementary colors opposite on color wheel. Opposites are energy-packed visual experiences. Red opposite green; blue opposite orange; yellow opposite purple. In landscape, red and green opposites, but turquoise instead of true green bends rules while making vivid statement. Horticultural equivalent: lime foliage paired with maroon or wine-color plant.

Medium-tone purple wall is interesting backdrop to Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra') showing tertiary color use.

Tell Your Own Color Story

Define garden with massed plantings of a favorite perennial to echo colors appearing elsewhere (in your garden and borrowed views).

Keep palette more intense in certain spots, allowing dominant shades to define focal point or announce transition. Muted tones help eye move calmly between bolder elements, providing restful visual pause.

This container is a study in complements: cinnamon coleus and peach dahlia warm end; turquoise glazed pot and trailing foliage cooler notes.

Find Your Color Style

Learn volumes about color through observation and experience. Visit public gardens, shop nurseries, tour Houzz—notice which colors please your eyes.

Clear that Tiffany blue makes this cottage owner very happy. That's the power of color.

More:
The Stories Colors Tell
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