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 What Color to Choose?     

It may be August, but it's not too soon to begin thinking about annual color.  Before you choose the "color" of your color, consider your property and type of business, hours of operation, exterior spaces and special features.  Is your property a restaurant, medical facility, office complex, church, HOA, or public agency?  Color has a psychological affect and can be used not only for aesthetic purposes but also to create special effects and influence behavior.  Contact your Account Manager (Juan Lopez/Randy Mitchell) or our Enhancement Manager (Kevin Rocker) now to discuss your annual color needs and place your order. 

 To help you maximize your annual color budget and achieve a little more than just a beautiful property, consider the following...

 Warm Colors:  Yellows, Oranges, Reds

These colors are lively and energetic and appear to come forward in the landscape and seem closer than they really are.  They can make a big space feel smaller.  If you want to lead the eye toward a specific feature on your property, perhaps a beautiful water feature, monument, or guide the eye to a walkway or path, warm colors can help achieve this result.

 Cool Colors:  Greens, Blues, and Purples

These cool colors appear to recede in the landscape and appear farther away than they really are.  They are useful for small spaces that you want to give the illusion of a larger space.  They have a soothing effect and a sense of calm.  You can soften the intensity of warm colors by adding cool colors to create contrast.

The Effects of Color

Red %u2013 radiates energy, excitement and heat.  It is dramatic, bold, vibrant, and gets attention.  It's a great color to use at a restaurant since it also stimulates the appetite.  If your property has shady areas and you want to add some warmth, consider using red.  Also keep in mind when using red, it can shorten one's view. Due to its eye catching characteristic the eye usually stops at the red color and doesn't go past it.

Yellow %u2013 is an energy-building, warm, happy color.  Yellow is an excellent choice to use as an accent color to make other colors stand out.  Concentrated amounts of yellow are difficult to look at for an extended amount of time and hard on the eyes to process.  The eye tends to follow this color so if your goal is to draw attention or focus to something then yellow is a perfect choice. 

Blue %u2013 is a restful and calming color and is the easiest color for the eye to see.  This color presents a feeling of comfort, relaxation, and quietness.  It enlarges small spaces and is also the color of trust, dependability as well as authority and power.  Dark blues are preferred if the desired effect is a more formal look while light blues creates a refreshing atmosphere.  Something to consider - it is the first color to disappear in the evening.  If your property is open for business in the evenings or used for entertaining you may want to mix in some white or pink with the blue.

Pink %u2013 is an ethereal, cheerful, delicate and feminine color.  It represents sweetness and innocence and is the first color everyone wants to smell in the garden.  It has short term calming properties and promotes positive feelings and relaxation.

Purple %u2013 is elegant, regal, and spiritual and is known to lower blood pressure.  It is associated with romance and stimulates imagination.  Mixing purple and pink creates a relaxing, comfortable environment; while purple and yellow create a dramatic look.  A point to remember when using purple, it can be a difficult color to live with long-term when used lone.  It's best to blend it with other colors to obtain the best results.

Orange %u2013 is cheerful, energizing, stimulating, and nurturing. Orange also presents a feeling of nurturing and works well combined with red, or with a combination such as yellow and purple.

White %u2013 is the color of cleanliness, precision and purity.  It is also elegant and gives the impression of an organized and well planned space.  If your goal is to accent or highlight a particular color then white is a good choice.  White used in conjunction with other colors will help the landscape stand out into dusk and not fade out.  Just as yellow is hard on the eyes, white has the same characteristics; it%u2019s best to use it as an accent. 

Color 101: 

Primary colors are pure colors and cannot be made by mixing any other colors together.  The three primary colors are Yellow, Red, and Blue.

Secondary colors are achieved by mixing two primaries together:  red and yellow makes orange, yellow and blue make green, blue and red make violet.

Complementary colors are the colors located opposite each other on the color wheel.  For example:  blue complements orange, green complements red, yellow complements violet.

When you use these combinations together they intensify each color.  Red flowers look brighter against a green background of plants.  Yellow and purple flowers planted close to each other create an area that is greater than the sum of its parts.  These color combinations create excitement, stimulate and are high energy.  Neutral colors such as brown, bronze, gray and white are helpful to separate the combinations and help tie everything together.