Green, the Sixth Primary

Green is nature's own color. Without it, all compositions would be garish or else insignificant. Yet green seems to be the last color to be appreciated by the aesthete. Often it is omitted in the gardener's color planning; only when it is considered, can a broad picture with happy relationships be secured.

The urge for "riots of color" in all parts of the garden at all times makes us overlook green. Such neglect not only impairs the true effectiveness of color compositions, but also robs the garden of more permanent beauty. Color at best is transient. Trees, shrubs, and other foliages provide the setting for color in the garden.

Foliage ranges in color from deep dull green through lighter gray-green, blue and yellow-green to the darkest of the evergreens. Some foliages have shiny, light-reflecting surfaces. In selecting plants for background or accent near the focal point of the garden, consider foliage color so that you may choose effective foils for the color compositions of the beds and borders. Yellow-green or blue-green foliages are strident when they are just behind a carefully arranged harmony that will not be at its best if yellow or blue is included. Compositions are stronger and wider when you place near them a foliage that can become part of them. The gray-green of iris is more effective in front of gray-green spireas and bush honeysuckles than with the dark or dull green of Viburnum dentatum. In the borders themselves remember that foliage is important. Green is a dependable peacemaker among strong hues. It helps to blend colors and increases the feeling of unity.

Many designers employ certain plants like Lymegrass for foliage alone. The thalictrums have pleasing blossoms but more important is their gray- to blue-green foliage so finely divided it creates strong textural accent, which relieves too heavy masses of other foliages or color. Small groups of Japanese iris or hemerocallis, the lance-leaved plants, are important because the line of their foliage can create accent among the more usual rounded masses of perennials. The coarse-textured foliages, especially of peonies, make an excellent accent for the long border when used among lighter-colored or finer-textured foliages and masses of color.

Contents

• Color Accent - Color accent groups along a border produce movement, rhythm, and sequence. They carry the eye along to the climactic point.
• Color Placement - Color, for any given season, should never be concentrated in any one bed or border to the exclusion of others.
• Color Schemes - Since we discourage the use of restrictive and complex color schemes, we will offer other reasonable solutions. The two methods that follow have been found in actual practice to produce satisfactory gardens.
• Blue - Analogous harmonies based on blue are easy to arrange because dark and light blues provide sufficient contrast. Blue, contrasted with yellow or orange of the same chroma, is strong and bold, but such combinations must be used sparingly.
• Violet, Purple, and Magenta - These hues lie between blue and red and are most difficult to use effectively. Long considered symbols of loyalty, they bring dignity to the garden.
• Red, and Its Place - Red, and the closely associated hues of crimson, scarlet, and red-orange can be important in a garden composition. Too often they are omitted altogether, but they are a means of securing greater distinction and a desirable warmth.
• Pink, a Tint of Red - Here is a color that is not a primary, as is sometimes supposed, but a tint of red that varies according to the amount of white it contains. There are deep strong pinks (rose), or pale weak ones.
• Orange, Warm and Luminous - Orange imparts even more brilliance and warmth to borders than red and closely related scarlet. Orange is one of the vital hues.
• Yellow for Light and Life - Yellow and white are always pleasing together and there is a fresh simplicity in their use. Another strong contrast may be had from strong yellow with strong blue, or even with difficult purple.
• White, the Fifth Primary - You might think white would be the simplest of colors to use in the garden, yet this is not the case. White, improperly placed, or in poor proportion causes unsatisfactory compositions.
• Green, the Sixth Primary - The urge for riots of color in all parts of the garden at all times makes us overlook green. Such neglect not only impairs the true effectiveness of color compositions, but also robs the garden of more permanent beauty.
• Gray and Silvery Foliage - Gray-foliaged plants are more effective with light-tinted flowers, soft lavenders, mauve, pale yellow, buff, and soft pinks. But they are also good with strong colors.
• Color in the Garden - Color should be used to provide accent and emphasis, balance, repetition and rhythm, sequence, and climax. These are more helpful in the development of a pleasing garden than all the subtle, close, color harmonies that ever were attempted.

See Also

• Next Page: Gray and Silvery Foliage
• Return from Green, the Sixth Primary to: Landscape-Guide Home

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