Creating unity in your garden can be a challenge, especially when you’re wandering through the garden centre and there are just so many options available. You can help streamline the shopping process and create a stunning garden that is cohesive in an elegant and subtle way by using colour echo! It can help guide your plant selection, and the results will be gorgeous.
Colour echo is also great if you’re creating a garden for wellness and relaxation; you can use colour psychology to bring peace, energy, or healing to your outdoor space. Here’s what you need to know about using colour echo to create a fabulous garden where you can recharge.
What is Colour Echo?
If you have dark purple pansies in hanging baskets and purple irises in the flower bed or something similar, you’ve already used colour echo techniques! Colour echo is where you utilize the same colour in different plants””this can be different shades of the same colour, such as light or dark purple. A full yellow bloom can echo a bright yellow stamen in another plant, echoing yellow-edged foliage. These subtle echoes of colour through your garden create unity and a stunning view!
How to Use Colour Echo in Your Garden
Colour echo is all about repeating colours throughout your garden to create a cohesive aesthetic. You can use both foliage and blooms to create beautiful garden designs that are subtly orchestrated and make a big impact, or by adding decorations and hardscaping to your design!
Flowers
There are so many parts to a flower that you can utilize for creating colour echo! As mentioned above, brightly-coloured stamens are perfect to echo a big bloom. You can also echo using various shades of colour, such as pinks and reds or oranges and yellows. Some example combinations are:
- Yellow daffodils, daisies, and hyacinths
- Red dahlias, tulips, and geraniums
Foliage
Don’t underestimate your foliage! There are so many gorgeous plants with fabulous variegation and edging perfect for creating colour echoes in your garden. Some combinations include:
- Bronze-leafed begonia and purple fountain grass
- White-edged hostas and white garden phlox
- Caladiums, apple blossoms, and pink tulips
Monochromatic Gardens
Colour echo is perfect if you want to create monochromatic gardens. You can use various shades of the same colour and add feature colours that echo throughout, such as white accents in an all-pink garden or orange in an all-red garden.
Garden Decor
If you want to really commit to your colour echo theme, or if you’re having trouble finding enough blue-flowered plants to create the blue garden of your dreams, incorporate decorations and furniture into the mix to help create the aesthetic! Small blue windchimes or birdhouses echoed by powder-blue garden chairs are sweet and serene.
Colour Echo for Wellness Gardens
Colour psychology suggests that colours have universal meanings through shared subjective perception. In other words, different colours make us feel different things! Companies will often use colours strategically for brand perception, and interior designers can change the energy in the room with the right paint colour selection. Similarly, you can change the entire mood of your garden by intentionally selecting colours that will create the atmosphere you desire most! Here are some colours and their meanings:
- Red: energy, passion, power, and strength
- Orange: success, excitement, and bravery
- Yellow: creativity, friendship, and happiness
- Green: healing, nature, and wealth
- Blue: loyalty, serenity, and security
- Purple: royalty, wisdom, and self-knowledge
- Pink: love, sweetness, and compassion
- White: clarity, goodness, and safety
Keep in mind that these colours might have entirely different meanings for you””this list is just to get you started! If a particular colour speaks to you or makes you feel calm and relaxed, consider adding it throughout your garden using colour echo. You’d be surprised how calming and cheerful colours can benefit your mental wellness!
If you’re looking to create a colour echo garden near you, visit us at our greenhouses in St. Albert and Sherwood Park! Our knowledgeable staff can help you choose the right plants to make your garden a colourful, cohesive dream!
