Re: Case Study Garden Designs

I guess I coming to this thread a little late, but here goes.

In reading the comments thus far, I think that the original mention of color as being distracting from important considerations of texture, form, etc., might have been referring to the common approach to focus on color primarily (or solely) and not on the full range of design considerations. Using this approach is often the undoing of landscape designs - when the flowers fade, so does the design!! The perceived need to remove color entirely from design considerations seems to show a lack of discipline rather than a tactical advantage.

I would agree with those who've commented on this topic in this forum that color is an important consideration, AND that it is merely ONE of many considerations. I always focus on color from the onset - I find clients are often very particular about color, even if they do not express it initially. I'd much rather have these cards on the table as soon as possible rather than waste everybody's time when the plant or material selection is already underway.

My own approach to color starts with a 'color book' I've created. This tool is a thin binder of loose leaf pages I've created to represent various colors I observe in landscapes. While I started this book using color principles I learned in art school, I quickly found that these classic principles generally do not apply to gardens - the quality of light off plant tissue is far different from pure pigments on canvas with interior lighting!! Instead of broke color down into definitions I find relevant to garden plantings.

Some colors naturally flow into the next and so pages are most often used in sets (purple, violet, lavender, blue-violet) while others tend to stand out singularly (the true clear blue, 'real' peach) seeming to demand special treatment when used. I think the basis for what I observe has more to do with plant pigments than painter's pigments! For example, I separated yellow out into cool (heading toward green), pure yellow, and warm (heading towards orange), as well as value (deep saturated egg-yolk or pale primrose). In this way, how yellow interacts with cream and white or sunset shades can be easily seen by removing selected pages and laying them out in various combinations. My pages consist of a solid color sheet of paper closely approximating the color being considered, with small cut out bits from plant catalogues and magazines that also match this color.

Important pages in this book represent various foliage colors (bright grass green, chartreuse green, drab muted green, soft gray green, silver foliage, blue-toned foliage, etc.) - when the other colors are selected, I find this usually decides some of the background foliage colors as well, which have to be considered as an appropriate foil to the accent colors (i.e. chartreuse green and medium green work well with true blues and yellows, soft gray greens are often a good foil for purple-blues and lavenders, clear whites are best with a crisp dark green, medium green or even yellow green foliage, but creamy-off whites can work with drab muted green foliage, etc.).

I have the client 'play' with these pages to see what colors they attract them. They are free to select the colors they prefer and set aside those they do not. Sometimes I will interject some aesthetic sensibilities but by and large most client come up with a color scheme they enjoy pretty easily. This exercise takes mere minutes but it very quickly tells me in what direction color palette for the design will go. This also is input into the overall theme as color often suggests design considerations. As an aid to the client (and myself), I occasionally create a page showing the colors chosen for the project (kind of like those people who do your personal colors for selecting your wardrobe and give you a small selection of color swatches to use while you shop).

Armed with a palette, I can select plants or materials that compliment of enhance the colors desired. In selecting ANY material for the garden, contrast or texture and form is very important as well as consistently 'echo'ing an color theme through 'incidental' use of color (pay attention to the color of stems and petiole, leaf undersides, fading flowers, fruits, new shoots, etc.). Contrast is important, but everything should not contrast with everything - use specific specimens to provide a dramatic counterpoint to the overall planting. This can be done through color, form or texture, or a combination of any/all three. Flowers should ALWAYS be the last thing considered - a flower may be the perfect color or form, but if its foliage is jarring and at odds with the overall design, it will always look out of place. And a design based upon foliar contrast and interaction look so good the viewer will not realize that there is nothing in flower at the time!

So, in summary, I agree that color can be a distraction to the design process as well as an important backbone - it all depends of how you are using or viewing color while creating your landscape. The more careful your color selection is, the more purposeful your design looks.
Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean@support.net
1034A Virginia Street, Berkeley, California 94710-1853, U.S.A.

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