Your home’s interior is not the only place that can have a colour scheme. Many people also choose to match their gardens with the exterior of their houses. This is done by either repeating paint colours in foliage or flowers, or an easier way is to match plant colours to house colours.
Where to start?
If you choose the latter way to go (matching plant colours to house colours) then you’ll need to select your plant ‘palette’. Much like determining the colours of your interior decor it usually pays to keep colour schemes simple, and choose a theme such as: natural, sophisticated or dramatic.
Not surprisingly greens, browns and beige house colours are the easiest to integrate with a garden. But you could also choose plant colours and flowers that contrast with your house and show up against it.
Here are some ideas for plant colours that work well with different house colours.
Blue or Purple
Cool colours for the exterior of the house can be matched with similarly cool plant colours, blue, purple or lavender for harmony, or go for a bold contrast such as a blue house and orange, golden yellow or copper flowers. Accent foliage of silver or blue-green integrates well.
Beige, Brown or Green
As mentioned above neutrals are the easiest colors to plant against because any flower and foliage colors work well as they only need to contrast not blend in. Consider yellows, reds, lavender, violet, pinks and burgundy but avoid using too many bold colours.
Brick Red
Brick houses of orange, red and yellow work best with other hot colors. But you don’t have to match the brick color and plantings precisely. Plants with violet blue flowers and burgundy leaves can make good accents. Cool colours such as purple-reds and lavender-pinks may clash with brick.
White
White is a strong house color that works best with white as a repeating element in the garden, whether this is white flowers, white-variegated foliage, or white garden structures. Use darker plants sparingly as contrasts but any foliage of blue, silver or variegated works well.
Pastel
Pastel-colored houses tend to meld into the natural landscape so the garden’s color scheme should relate to, or contrast with, the house color. As above, using white in the landscape repetitively also works well for pastel houses, or you can use it as a dramatic accent; e.g a mass of white flowers by your front door.
Yellow
Yellow houses have an advantage as almost any color goes well with them. They look especially good with plant colours that contrast such as lavender and purple (yellow’s opposite on the color wheel).
Matching Your Roof to Your Garden
Don’t forget about the colour of your roof and roof materials, if matched to the garden well these can complete the whole integration. Here are some tips:
Black and gray roofs – add some darker coloured foliage around the house, gray walkways, grey patio pavers to provide a uniform look.
Roof texture – look at ways you can connect roof shingles to pathways to match texture.
Roof shapes – create a pleasing synchronicity by accentuating roof shape or pattern against the landscape, e.g sloping tile roof against rounded hills, or steep slate against mountain crags.
Looking to restore or replace your roof? Reno Saver Roofing builds quality yet affordable roofing solutions – discover how easy getting a new roof can be now.