Am I right in thinking a lighter colored painted fence will make my garden look biger and brighter? I have a black and white house, and would like to paint my fences a light color which isn't white (enough of that on the house already) but would love to have a nice colored backdrop for plants while making the garden look bigger. Any ideas?
Actually, darker colors in a garden will recede, making the space look bigger, while light colors tend to jump forward. A dark fence will often recede into the background and almost disappear behind plantings, providing the illusion of greater space.
pam - gardengal
I agree with Pam. If you paint a fence white, you eye is immediately drawn to it. It leaves no doubt where the space ends. To make you space look larger, you can sometimes borrow a view from a neighboring area. If the fence is obvious, the illusion is spoiled. I would choose an earth tone for the fence and interrupt the view with some tall plant material so the fence completely disappears in areas. You might also use the fence for vines to obscure it.
I agree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
Consider a mirror built into sculpture or add a water surface. Reflection can suggest infinity. You can also use the oriental idea of borrowing your neighbor's landscape as a addition (Ideally a mountain this from Flat S. Jersey ;))) .
Bill
Fool people with perspective. Choose plants with small flowers to bloom in the background. Plant things with big, bold colours in the foreground. Keep clutter to a minimum by planting drifts of one kind of plant as oppose to many small clumps of plants. Use a mirror in a strategic location, like on top of a faux gate.
Darker fencing helps. So does meandering the borders, so it looks like just around the bend of that next shrub or tree, you might head farther back into another part of the garden. So does "borrowing" a bit of view of your neighbor's gardens. Ruler-straight borders all around a central lawn make the area look really cramped.
Kay
good info
good info
I have seen this work very well. In a quite modest garden they had worked hard to disguise the back fence with shrubs along and in front of it and there was quite a bit of foreground planting too. In the middle of the back fence was a gate with a frame over it covered with a creeper. It looked terrific and invited you to go through the gate to see the second area of the garden revealed. Except there was no second area just a big mirror fitted into the frame behind the gate to nowhere. The illusion was 100% convincing.
David
I have seen these in books about small gardens in small spaces and they are convincing. Ingrid
"David Hare-Scott" wrote: In the middle of the back
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
"Vox Humana" in news:pQDzc.97807$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.columbus.rr.com:
avoid painting fences.if you want to darken the fence, maybe use some kind of *non-peeling* staining liquid. watered down india ink ?
Yes. I would use a stain rather than paint. You can get stains in transparent, semi-opaque, and solid (opaque).
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.