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7 • POSTED ON May 05, 2005
Colour & contrast
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If your garden looks like a sea of non-distinguishable grey, then you need to add more contrasting shapes. Rene Trim tells us how in this week's gardening column.

Our gardening column is published every Tuesday on OttawaStart.

Let’s pick up where we left off last week and discuss more garden design basics. More specifically, let’s talk about contrast and colour in the garden.

I mentioned last week that a good way of determining whether or not your garden has enough contrasting forms and shapes is to take a black and white picture. In a black and white picture you are not distracted by colour and therefore textural differences are more noticeable. If your garden looks like a sea of non-distinguishable grey, then you need to add more contrasting shapes.

You will see that the plant on the left-hand side – Achillea or Yarrow – has flat flower screens, whereas the plant on the right-hand side – Kniphofia or Red Hot Poker – has cone-shaped flower heads. By now, I can almost hear some of you think “Easy for him to say but how do I do that?” Well, take a look at the picture and you will see what I am getting at. Do not pay any attention to the colours; just observe the shapes of the flowers on the right. You will see that the plant on the left-hand side – Achillea or Yarrow – has flat flower screens, whereas the plant on the right-hand side – Kniphofia or Red Hot Poker – has cone-shaped flower heads.

Et voila, there is your contrast!

Taking it one step farther, we can toss in (from left to right) the bell-shaped flowers of Platycodon, the spikes of Delphinium, the round flowers of Viburnum, the plate-shaped flowers of Daisies, and so on.

the bell-shaped flowers of Platycodon, the spikes of Delphinium, the round flowers of Viburnum, the plate-shaped flowers of Daisies

This week, the written word will, for the most part, be replaced by pictures. This particular area of garden design is one of the more complicated ones – in fact, in my humble opinion, it is what distinguishes a good design from a not-so-good design – and I hope illustrations will help you understand the complexity of the matter. There is more to garden design than just matching pinks and purples!

There is something I have been meaning to tell you for quite a while now, but for some reason I never got around to it. If you are looking for inspiration, magazines and books are wonderful tools. However, there are many, many books out there – let’s call them “coffee table books” – that are full of wonderful pictures that will tempt you to imitate what you see. Forget it; it will not work in your garden.

Chances are that the soil in your garden is different from the one in the garden you are looking at – and so are the sun exposure, the climate, and what not. Also, keep in mind that such pictures showcase borders when they are at their very best (because not many people are interested in a picture of a border two weeks after it has finished flowering). As I mentioned in last week’s column, most plants bear flowers for a period of two or three weeks.

Unless you have a large property with enough room for several herbaceous borders that each peak at a different time in the season – which is often the case in the “coffee table books” – you would prefer to have something nice to look at all season long. If the garden is big enough, it is easy to create a border that looks spectacular in May, another one that looks fabulous in June, etc. However, if you have an average sized city garden in Ottawa, you will have to compromise and make do with the space you have.

Anyway, with that said, let’s get back to our topic. Apart from “playing” with flower shapes, another great way to add contrast to your borders is to utilize plants with different leaf shapes. Take a look at these pictures; from left to right you see Hosta, Aquilegia (Columbine), Heuchera and Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle). Although their flowering periods do not coincide, you could still combine these plants and create wonderful leaf contrasts that lasts an entire season.

from left to right you see Hosta, Aquilegia (Columbine), Heuchera and Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle)

I could just as well have added pictures of ferns, lupines, roses and yarrow, because their leaves are different to the ones shown in the pictures. However, these are just examples of a large list of plants, meant to get you to look at leaves rather than just flowers.

Another important element of garden design is colour. Unfortunately, it is also a very personal one; what one person loves may be another person’s disgust. This makes it hard to give you ready solutions to any colour-related problems you might encounter while designing your garden. I can, however, give you some very broad rules of thumb which – depending on your personal preference - can either apply or completely ignore.

Bright colours (or “hot colours”) such as red, yellow and orange make objects look closer and tend to create a bright atmosphere in your garden. Subdued colours such as blue, purple and green make objects look farther away and are visually calm and cooling. By the way, true “garden blue” is VERY hard to find; more often what is advertised as blue turns out to be violet or purple.

White flowers – as well as silver foliage - reflect light at dusk and at night. Plants with “clashing” colours can be planted in close proximity, provided they are separated by lots of green foliage or white flowers. Ornamental grasses – often neutral in colour – are also great to act as dividers.

Whatever colour scheme you choose, is entirely up to you; all that really matters is that you are happy with it. After all, it is YOUR garden!

Until next week, happy gardening!

René Trim

TV Tip: Watch Rene on Rogers Television's Talk Ottawa on Wednesday, May 11, 9pm-10pm. Rene will spend the hour fielding your calls about gardening.

Do you have a gardening question for René? Send it to us, and he'll try to answer it in his next column.
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About René
René Trim was educated and trained in The Netherlands, before moving to Canada in 2000. After studying the differences in climate and season faced by Ontario gardeners he established Trim Garden Design and Rescue in May 2002. A gardener since the 1980’s, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, a vast library of reference materials from which to draw answers to various garden situations as well as an enthusiastic and professional staff.