Accepting the idea of constraint may be liberating in a world when there are many options. We disagree that we can have it all, despite what the outside world says. In fact, while planning a garden, we strongly support limitations and constraints. A garden is essentially a celebration of its boundaries, after all. Allow me to clarify.
Gardens are characterized in large part already by their fixed location and position on Earth. In a similar vein, we cannot just control the soil or the distinct climate. Upon combining these essential constraints with your desired outcomes for the garden’s appearance and functionality, you will soon find yourself with an extensive set of limits. We adore this. It provides a base upon which we may imaginatively experiment with our own levels of constraint. We like to experiment with the limitations of color. One of the things that sets us apart in our approach is this.
We are a husband and wife team who have been creating large and small gardens all over the UK for the last several years. We have an understanding of the significance of color in art and design despite having varied backgrounds in botanical illustration and design education. To really create something amazing, we need to realize that a muted color scheme actually gives an idea more flexibility and vitality.
Establishing your color scheme
We think that taking a glance at the surroundings is a fantastic place to start when designing. The natural materials that are right next to a room serve as our source of inspiration. We often search further afield for a site’s legacy and history. By just delving deeper into the environment of a garden, we are always able to find inspiring links between materials and colors. In case the garden is intended to have a certain ambiance, we may first think about selecting a planting palette that would align all the material selections. It’s usually an organic process that starts with a respectful awareness of the location.
establishing a “color rule”
After determining the palette, we lay the groundwork for color. This implies that we establish rules to abide by. This includes the materials we use, the textures we use, the embellishments we add, and the planting. We will take into account even the smallest nuances of how something appears after it has gone to seed. Depending on the project, we may use a primary palette with, say, two or three major colors, or we might use only one unifying color. In any case, anything that doesn’t adhere to the guidelines is unlikely to be included in the design unless its purpose is compellingly justified.
Establishing a color guideline gives you a great deal of flexibility since it gives you the confidence to make judgments. We are allowed to use a variety of textures in our gardens rather than being restricted to one or two materials, as long as they adhere to the color guideline. There are a ton of amazing plants to pick from while working on the plant scheme, even after the location and kind of soil have been determined to be the limiting variables. But here, we take the first step toward astute curating by imposing a color constraint. It requires a great deal of consideration and ingenuity; it is by no means a simple path. The outcome is always more unified, however.
When it comes to making meals or selecting an outfit, for example, the majority of us live by this same rule. When executed correctly, the viewer may not even realize that the rule exists. But it’s in these nuances that we produce the magnificent.
establishing a story
If color is the hook that holds everything together, then form and structure draw the eye in more. If you were to paint an ancient wall a single, solid color, you would notice the defects in texture and light play right away. In a garden, you may use the same technique to use texture and form to tell a story.
You can see how we used a very restricted palette of bruised tones in this Talitha Arts Garden that we created for the Chelsea Flower Show last year. This multicolored painting speaks the same language thanks to rusty corten steel, repeating plum notes in the Acer palmatum “atropurpureum,” Lamium ovala, and even the stones. The eye is pulled to each plant’s amazing sculptural capabilities within these somber tones. Here, the materials either vanish to let the plants tell their own tale, or they serve to frame a scene.
Violating the regulations
One of the best things about making your own rules is that you may violate them whenever you like. By doing this, it gives that phrase a meaning and contrast. In a garden, adding unexpected flashes of color may spark a moment. In a garden, color is simply one of the many ways we like to show our creativity.
