Are you looking for some easy gardening ideas? Of course you’ll want easy care plants that aren’t too ‘precious’ needing lots of attention (like maidenhair ferns; don’t get me started!). In some areas you’ll be looking for drought-resistant plants, or at least some that won’t die if you don’t water them for a while. Oops.
How about a garden in one colour? At least you won’t have to think about which colours to put together. Seriously, monochromatic gardens are quite stunning because people don’t expect a garden to be one colour. And we aren’t talking ONE colour, no. Monochromatic gardens are one colour hue, with different tones, hues and shades of that one colour.
Here, I’ll show you what I’m talking about.
LeJardinet are landscape architects and landscape designers who have wonderful knowledge of monochromatic gardens. I have collected a few images and descriptions from LeJardient to help you plan possible colours for monochromatic gardens.
Yellow: ‘Goldfinger’ Libertia, which is a grass-like foliage, ‘Gold Coast’ variegated holly and ‘Delta Dawn’ coral bells form a delightful trio of evergreen plants with sunshine happy yellow pansies giving a final touch.
Courtesy of LeJardinet
Silver: Like a winter wonderland, silver foliage is magical in the garden. Soft and feathery, the tactile nature of Artemesia ‘Silver Mound’ works beautifully with the bolder Pulmonaria or ‘Silver Spotted Lungwort’ for gardens that don’t require flowers.
Courtesy of LeJardinet
Purple: I like oversize leaves so the ‘Spellbound’ Heuchera suits me, however the light reflecting qualities and contrasting leaf shapes add drama to monochromatic gardens.
Courtesy of LeJardinet
Succulents: Look to succulents with their diverse, architectural shapes, extreme hardiness and many green hues for stunning monochromatic gardens. Personally, I love succulents as they just grow anywhere. I have them in full sun, partial sun, shade, in pots, in the ground and they can look amazing. They are also perfect for steep hills or rocky soil. Place seating and interesting rocks around then plant, plant, plant. You can LITERALLY cut off a piece of succulent and stick it straight into the ground. 99% of the time it WILL grow and survive well.
Image courtesy of Pat Brodie Landscape Design
Image courtesy of Personal Garden Coach
The ‘Donkey Tail’ Euphorbia is a delightfully cheerful plant that comes in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. Like all succulents, Euphorbia is drought tolerant, hardy and dramatic adding an architectural vibe to gardens, especially rockeries. This photo was taken by Eileen Kirby for Dig Your Garden Landscape Design.
Image courtesy of Dig Your Garden Landscape Design
And consider lighting. Monochromatic gardens look magical lit up at dusk and night because the lights become the feature. If you have a small, flat or undulating block then consider the outlook from your living and decking. Do you sit in the garden? Do you walk around? The stunning design below was designed by the multi-award winning Grace Design Associates. The timber jacuzzi works stylishly with the wooden steps, rocks & boulders, and scree; as does the fire pit.
Image courtesy of Margie Grace – Grace Design Associates
You can sit in, walk around and admire from different vantage points this clever garden. So do consider your lighting requirements and how uplights, down lights, fairy lights, walk-way lights or spot lights will work.
I hope this first article on monochromatic gardens has got you thinking about the possibilities for your garden, or even just part of your garden. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can easily add a monochromatic area, it doesn’t have to be the whole garden.
I’ll be talking more about plants and gardening ideas in other articles as I provide you with some expert tips on what to plant, when and how to look after yours plantings and grass.
If you liked this article you might like ‘All Decked Out’ with luscious ideas for decking and ‘Firepits’ where you’ll find great ideas for wood and gas fired firepits.
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