"Lighten up!" That’s the buzz phrase for Fall. The Fall colors, which you’ll see in everything from fashion to furniture to the garden, include bright greens, deep fuschia, bright orange, fiery red, ochre yellow and violet. How can you brighten your garden with these colors?
Forget Terra Cotta
Use containers that offer a vivid pop of color. Colorful containers add a carefree, cheerful element to any garden – whether it’s a full yard, a patio, a balcony or a cluster of plants indoors by a south-facing window. Plastic containers require less watering than terra cotta or unglazed ceramic, but be sure to get a very high-grade plastic. Nothing looks worse than plastic that has faded and cracked, which will happen quickly when low-quality plastics are exposed to the elements. Mix up the colors, just as you would wildflowers in a garden, or use all one color for more impact.
Coordinate plant color and pot color
Play with different combinations to see what you like. One extreme is the monochromatic approach – where container and plants are all the same color, although shades may vary. On the other end of the extreme, a cottage garden with a jumble of colors (polychrome) will work beautifully too. You might try pairing containers and plants from opposite sides of the color wheel, such as red and green, violet and yellow, or blue and orange. Or use colors that reside side-by-side on the color wheel, such as salmon and violet or fuchsia and bright red.
Create a pattern of repeating colors and textures
Containers and plants with different colors can create an eye-catching display when arranged so that each color repeats at a regular interval. For instance: blue, purple, violet, green, blue, purple, violet, green. This technique is sometimes used with border plants, or plants in linear beds. The addition of colorful containers heightens the effect and adds to the options for placement. Create a repeating pattern on a railing, along a patio or even using hanging containers.
Roy is CEO of Greenbo, which was founded with a focus on simplicity, efficiency and innovation in creating urban agricultural products. Its Greenbo XL flowerbox, designed to hang securely on any balcony railing up to 6 inches wide, won the prestigious 2012 Red Dot Design Award. Find Greenbo products at www.amazon.ca
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