When I’m doing planting plans I try to follow all the rules about choosing the right plants for the position they are going in (shade lovers for the north facing border, drought tolerant plants for freely draining soil in a sunny spot and so on). Then I start to think about the colours of the flowers and foliage and how they will all look together.
Once all that is chosen, there is still the colour and style of the hard landscaping to factor in and I’ve noticed that some plants create great effects with certain types of paving or walling.
Warm red tones of paving and brick walls for example look amazing with blue or mauve flowers spilling over the edges. Think of Tobermore Roma in ‘Sunset’ or red Pedesta with Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ or Catmint tumbling over it.
Cool silver foliage, white or blue flowers look fantastic with the warm hues of Tobermore’s Heather coloured paving blocks.
Grey paving can look a bit too sombre with a blue colour scheme, but really comes to life with the bright, hot colours of things like sunny yellow Rudbeckia, Red Hot Pokers or rusty red coloured Helenium.
Plants and shrubs with red and purple foliage (for example some Cotinus and Acers) give their most stunning effect against a white or pale grey wall, or near grey paving.
Then you have to consider the style of the paving. For example products like Mayfair flags have a lovely modern feel to them, and grasses, New Zealand Flax, or plants with big bold leaves really finish off the look.
The more traditional appeal of something like Old Court Flags goes perfectly with lovely old cottage garden favourites: Hollyhocks, Lupins, Forget-me-nots and Ox-eye daisies, all mixed together to give plenty of colour and charm.
If you have a water feature in the garden, maybe a millstone with some Highland Cobbles around it, try planting some lovely, lush green Hostas and some Irises with their pointed leaves right next to it. I guarantee it will look just right.