Coloring Your Garden : Landscaping : Home & Garden Television

A color wheel can help you decide which colors to use for the most impact in your garden.

A complementary color scheme uses colors opposite each other on the color wheel, like blue and orange.

Landscape designer Lynn Turner has tips for turning a ho-hum garden into a colorful and interesting display that complements your home.

To design color in the garden, you can start with your favorite color. Get a color wheel from an art store and use it to help you determine which colors will work best with your primary color. Complimentary (opposite on the wheel) colors produce a lively look, while colors adjacent to each other on the wheel are more soothing together. The most sophisticated look is monochromatic, with varying shades of the same color.

Plant foliage of different sizes, shapes and colors together for an interesting look in the garden without using flowers.

Use bold, strong shapes and colors for the garden of a contemporary home.

To get an idea of how colors will look together, make a "soil plot" with coffee grounds spread in a shallow pan. Insert crayons of different colors together to determine their effect (see photo at right). The crayons are nontoxic so the coffee can still be used for brewing.

Using white in a garden really pops--even more so than red--so be careful where you place it. It is usually a focal point. Placed in the back of a bed, white pulls the eye through the front foliage.

An important consideration in planning your garden is your home’s architecture. If you have a traditional home, consider an English garden country style that uses a lot of gray, furry, textured leaves and purple flowers. For a more modern look, choose bold colors and shapes.

Guests
Lynn Turner
Landscape Designer
4430 Cromwell Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: 323-574-5739
Fax: 323-662-1694

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