Instantly Refresh Your Yard for Spring with These 2 Designer Color Tricks

Spring is in the air, and as the days begin to stretch, I'm sure, like me, you are spending more time in your yard, while also itching to change things up a little to give your outdoor space a bit of a refresh as temperatures begin to rise. And one easy way to make an instant change is to introduce a new color palette for your beds, borders, or containers.

The good news is you don't have to break the bank to give your yard a springtime glow-up. Color can bring about an immediate impact, adding vibrancy and depth to your spring garden ideas. Choosing three or four complementary colors will create cohesion and drama for your backyard ideas, while mixing in foliage with colors for depth will help keep your yard looking lush and vibrant all summer long.

To find out more, I spoke to two US garden designers to find out what they would do to help you focus on your next garden chapter, and they shared their two distinctive methods.

Cohesive Color

Chicago based landscape designer Hayden Regina knows a thing or two about giving yards a refresh and believes the key is to focus on repeat planting using the same or similar colors and shades.

He tells me, 'A useful way to make a spring refresh feel intentional rather than piecemeal is to think in terms of matrix planting. He gives us an example of a soothing palette in blue hues.

'Rather than arranging plants as individual specimens, the garden can be organized around a consistent base layer that repeats. When the same colors and textures recur across the planting, the whole composition reads as a single tapestry rather than a series of disconnected plants.

'A dependable matrix can begin with something like Sesleria autumnalis (or autumn moor grass) as the constant. Its fine, mounding foliage forms a soft green ground plane that visually ties the planting together from early spring through fall. Through that layer, drifts of Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ emerge in spring with clear blue flowers and a compact, upright habit. You can find Amsonia 'Blue Ice' perennial plants available from Amazon.

'As the season progresses, the hardy geranium ‘Rozanne’ extends the color story with violet-blue blooms that repeat for months. Together, these three plants create structure, continuity, and a long season of interest while keeping the palette calm and cohesive.'

Hayden continues, 'To prevent the planting from feeling flat, introduce punctuation plants that rise above the matrix with distinctive form. Sculptural perennials such as Eryngium ‘Prairie Moon’, Digitalis ferruginea, or Echinacea pallida bring vertical movement and contrast without disrupting the composition. You can find great-value Echinacea pallida seeds at Amazon.

'Their silhouettes, whether the architectural grey thistles of eryngium, the warm spires of rust foxglove, or the graceful, nodding petals of pale coneflower, read as rhythmic markers moving through the planting. This creates a spatial condition rather than many focal points.'

Color Bursts

If you like the idea of growing edimentals, another way to bring some change this spring with color is by choosing some new edible plants for your borders, as Ashley Irene, founder of Heirloom Potager based in South California, shared with me.

'I love to layer in a color story, mixing warm and cool season flowers, most of which are edible, to complement the future fruits and vegetables growing into the warm season.

'For clients who love a warm color story, I'll mix white alyssum with red and yellow violas and pansies, paired with Alaskan nasturtium, and a mix of red, orange, and yellow ranunculus or poppies for the cool season layered against green cabbages, colorful lettuce mixes, and arugula.

'As the weather warms, red petunias, orange and yellow marigolds, and edible celosia are added when tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are transplanted.'

This edible wild flower seed mix from Amazon would be a quick and simple way to create your own take on this idea.

There is no limit to Ashley's imagination when it comes to injecting change that not only looks beautiful but also taste delicious and edimentals are a great way to do just that.

She continues, 'Black Strawberry tomatoes, purple jalapeños, and a mix of warm-season greens, such as arugula, Swiss chard, and kale offer a beautiful mix of foliage to accent the color story.'

To ensure a smooth transition after your spring flowering bulbs begin to fade you will want to focus on choosing a palette of color for summer flowering bulbs. Think lilies, gladiolas and dahlias. The good news is there are so many wonderful varieties to choose from, the difficulty will be choosing a palette that reflects your style of gardening and your personality.

Or you could also consider sowing a wildflower meadow in your yard, which will provide a succession of different flowers throughout the summer and also provide a feast for pollinators, adding a different type of life and energy to your greenspace. This wildflower seed mix available from Amazon contains 21 different types of wildflowers, which will bring vibrancy and color with minimal effort.

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