planting for sensory experiences (pt 1): ways to use color

When designed thoughtfully, your garden can engage and stimulate the senses, creating a rich, immersive experience. In the coming months, future blogs will explore ways to stimulate all senses, but let's begin with the sense of sight, and more specifically, intentional ways to use color in your garden design.

A garden path with diverse plants stimulating sight and touch

humans live in the world of color

Color influences our mood and our feelings - and when gardeners use color with intention, we can create an almost endless variety of experiences and emotions.

Think for a moment of a rainbow of flower colors that we have access to when designing a container garden or an entire landscape much like your own artist's palette - and let's explore some of the ways these choices can be used in garden design:

reds

Red is a very stimulating color to the human eye, and bright primary red can be used to draw the eye to a particular view, or to create a feeling of excitement in a border.

• If you want to incorporate this titillating color but find it a bit too "hot" for your project consider using reds that contain cooler tones of pink or peach.

• Or try those darker red shades such as maroon that blend more easily with other flower colors.

  
  

oranges

Like reds, orange blooms evoke drama and excitement and are at their most vibrant when set against bright clear blues and sharp lime greens.

yellows

These blossoms are perhaps the most joyous of the spectrum of colors that we can incorporate.

• Yellows draw the eye with their clarity and vibrance.

• Keep in mind that we often see the brightest shades of yellow in the spring and summer garden, reflecting the brightest sunlight of the year.

• Many of the yellows in autumnal flowers can be deeper and more golden shades.

  
  

A garden corner with lavender

greens

Most gardens are dominated by the green shades in the leaves of plants, and rarely in blossoms. This color can vary from deepest shades of "pine-needle green" to shades like chartreuse.

Used as a predominant color, green creates a gentle and refreshing mood in a landscape.

blues

Shades of blue are perhaps the rarest of colors that we can use in garden design, as blue blooms represent less than 10% of all flowering plants.

Using blue in the garden can create a quiet and even ethereal mood.

White and cream blossoms

And don't forget how useful white flowers can be when creating a landscape.

Using a great deal of white can create balance between brighter colors in a border and can also be used to great effect in slightly shady areas.

thoughts

And remember, although this blog concentrated heavily on the color of the flowers that we plant, foliage offers a wide source of colors as well. Besides an almost endless array of green shades, the foliage of perennials, shrubs and trees can bring in deep reds and purple hues or soft silver and grays.

Have fun designing with color in your garden - and be sure to post your photos on social media (@moontwpgardenclub), tagging our club, so we can share the results!