9 Ways to Enjoy Colour in Your Garden All Year Round
However your garden grows, you can add colour with hardscaping, furniture and accessories
Right now, we’re seeing explosions of colour all over Houzz – and not just indoors. Many designers are introducing bold shades outside, too, with everything from painted and tiled walls to bright furniture. Take a look at these gardens, which have colour built into the fabric of their design, from muted pairings to Mediterranean themes and flashes of fluorescent orange.
2. Create colourblocks
On the other hand, vibrant brights can lift a small, dark space no end. In this little garden, pistachio green, sunshine yellow, plaster pink and fire engine red create a modern and edgy mood.
Garden designer Ruth Bridgeman says the owners wanted “a total redesign of this tiny city garden, [which is] attached to a very old house. The terrace continues the kitchen to expand the living area [and] the client wanted something daring and vibrant to create an exciting secret space. The top level is a calming space for yoga and contemplation.”
On the other hand, vibrant brights can lift a small, dark space no end. In this little garden, pistachio green, sunshine yellow, plaster pink and fire engine red create a modern and edgy mood.
Garden designer Ruth Bridgeman says the owners wanted “a total redesign of this tiny city garden, [which is] attached to a very old house. The terrace continues the kitchen to expand the living area [and] the client wanted something daring and vibrant to create an exciting secret space. The top level is a calming space for yoga and contemplation.”
3. Favour a feature colour
Adding colour to your hardscaping doesn’t have to mean vibrant shades, if that’s not your bag. Here, architect Clare Heffernan covered a wall and half wall in this garden with blue tiles that vary in tone. The wall behind the fountain remains a neutral shade so the tiles really stand out.
The wall on the right is unusually tall, since the garden belongs to a flat that’s mainly one storey up and is accessed via the steps on the left. The overhanging property created a nice ‘ceiling’ that provides shelter for the bench. Lantern lights illuminate the multi-tonal wall after dark.
Check out garden designers in your area and read reviews from previous clients.
Adding colour to your hardscaping doesn’t have to mean vibrant shades, if that’s not your bag. Here, architect Clare Heffernan covered a wall and half wall in this garden with blue tiles that vary in tone. The wall behind the fountain remains a neutral shade so the tiles really stand out.
The wall on the right is unusually tall, since the garden belongs to a flat that’s mainly one storey up and is accessed via the steps on the left. The overhanging property created a nice ‘ceiling’ that provides shelter for the bench. Lantern lights illuminate the multi-tonal wall after dark.
Check out garden designers in your area and read reviews from previous clients.
4. Focus on furniture
Changing the mood of your garden doesn’t have to involve hard landscaping – you can make a huge difference with furniture.
In this Earth Designs space, a vibrant orange and yellow dining set beneath a saffron-coloured shade sail makes for a cheerily stylish modern spot. The colourful cooker and sofa cushions are nice additional touches.
The whole lot works extra well thanks to dark walls in the background, which make the brights more striking, and wood panelling and decking, which ensure visual softness.
Changing the mood of your garden doesn’t have to involve hard landscaping – you can make a huge difference with furniture.
In this Earth Designs space, a vibrant orange and yellow dining set beneath a saffron-coloured shade sail makes for a cheerily stylish modern spot. The colourful cooker and sofa cushions are nice additional touches.
The whole lot works extra well thanks to dark walls in the background, which make the brights more striking, and wood panelling and decking, which ensure visual softness.
5. Work a one-colour backdrop
For a colourful but calm mood, try a single shade all over. Here, soft plaster pink has been used on multiple rendered walls, as well as being the tone of the floor tiles.
And if you find yourself dreaming of European beach holidays as you take in this scheme, that’s because this Mediterranean Garden was Garden Club London’s entry to the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show, created by Italian-born designer Filippo Dester, who wanted to reference the textures, materials and plants he’d grown up with.
For a colourful but calm mood, try a single shade all over. Here, soft plaster pink has been used on multiple rendered walls, as well as being the tone of the floor tiles.
And if you find yourself dreaming of European beach holidays as you take in this scheme, that’s because this Mediterranean Garden was Garden Club London’s entry to the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show, created by Italian-born designer Filippo Dester, who wanted to reference the textures, materials and plants he’d grown up with.
6. Big up a backdrop
A flash of bright orange behind a trio of trees and ferns creates a focal point at the end of this garden designed by Tom Howard.
Tom created the backdrop out of a 10mm thick aluminium sheet, painted in exterior eggshell and fixed to three posts out of sight at the back. If that isn’t an option for you, Tom suggests it wouldn’t be much more expensive to have a concrete block wall built, rendered and painted.
More: How to Start a Garden Redesign
A flash of bright orange behind a trio of trees and ferns creates a focal point at the end of this garden designed by Tom Howard.
Tom created the backdrop out of a 10mm thick aluminium sheet, painted in exterior eggshell and fixed to three posts out of sight at the back. If that isn’t an option for you, Tom suggests it wouldn’t be much more expensive to have a concrete block wall built, rendered and painted.
More: How to Start a Garden Redesign
7. Go kitsch and tropical
The vibrant colours in this curvy tropical space created by Georgia Lindsay are all down to removable accessories.
Georgia says the undulating design was inspired by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, but the colour scheme seems to be influenced by the house it’s attached to, since the adjacent kitchen has a bright pink floor.
Pink chairs, complementary turquoise bench pads and umbrella, and tropical fruit-themed cushions and pouffes top off the theme.
The vibrant colours in this curvy tropical space created by Georgia Lindsay are all down to removable accessories.
Georgia says the undulating design was inspired by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, but the colour scheme seems to be influenced by the house it’s attached to, since the adjacent kitchen has a bright pink floor.
Pink chairs, complementary turquoise bench pads and umbrella, and tropical fruit-themed cushions and pouffes top off the theme.
8. Mix but match
Tiles are a strong way to add colour to your garden, whether you go for encaustic ones in a bright colour for your patio flooring, or built-in seating clad in or backed by a plain shade, as seen earlier.
In this space, another by Earth Designs, a colourful half-wall of mismatched, patterned tiles adjoining a cerulean-painted fence is used to create a Moroccan feel. The tiled wall, one of two in the garden, screens the dining area.
To enhance the theme, just out of shot there’s a pergola covered with decorative screens engraved with a Moroccan-style pattern.
Tiles are a strong way to add colour to your garden, whether you go for encaustic ones in a bright colour for your patio flooring, or built-in seating clad in or backed by a plain shade, as seen earlier.
In this space, another by Earth Designs, a colourful half-wall of mismatched, patterned tiles adjoining a cerulean-painted fence is used to create a Moroccan feel. The tiled wall, one of two in the garden, screens the dining area.
To enhance the theme, just out of shot there’s a pergola covered with decorative screens engraved with a Moroccan-style pattern.
9. Lift an outhouse
If you have a shed or a garden room – or even a small potting area with a bench – consider making this the focus of your colour project.
Ann-Marie Powell created this vibrant potting shed/summer house for the Greening Grey Britain show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, making it from a painted shipping container surrounded by wildflower planting that was also bursting with colour.
“This garden was intended to build awareness of the positive healing effects that gardening has on people’s health and happiness,” Ann-Marie says. “A bright and colourful space with plants brimming from borders and containers, everything was conceived to be purposely inexpensive and easy to do. We recycled a shipping container as a potting shed, painting it bright orange, and used apple crates as shelves in the interior to hold ferns and seed trays.”
Tell us…
What’s your favourite colourful garden idea from this selection? Let us know in the Comments.
If you have a shed or a garden room – or even a small potting area with a bench – consider making this the focus of your colour project.
Ann-Marie Powell created this vibrant potting shed/summer house for the Greening Grey Britain show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, making it from a painted shipping container surrounded by wildflower planting that was also bursting with colour.
“This garden was intended to build awareness of the positive healing effects that gardening has on people’s health and happiness,” Ann-Marie says. “A bright and colourful space with plants brimming from borders and containers, everything was conceived to be purposely inexpensive and easy to do. We recycled a shipping container as a potting shed, painting it bright orange, and used apple crates as shelves in the interior to hold ferns and seed trays.”
Tell us…
What’s your favourite colourful garden idea from this selection? Let us know in the Comments.
Sponsored
Reload the page to not see this specific ad anymore
A limited palette can be very effective in a small space. Here, garden designer Lucy Willcox has combined pink, teal and grey in a contemporary urban courtyard garden to create a soft, stylish backdrop for lush green climbers. Black accents anchor the scheme, while cushions in coordinating shades add warmth and depth.
If you currently have bare, accessible walls, hiring a pro to render and paint them is a simple way to add colour – almost like decorating a room. And the good thing is that, once you have your smooth surface, you can repaint whenever you fancy a change of mood.