Are there any fans of pink out there? 💗 Whether you’re a die-hard fan of pink or prefer it in small doses, there’s no doubt that pink looks gorgeous in the garden – just look at those Summer Crush® hydrangeas above! If you’re looking to design a garden around the color pink, there are some tips that you can follow to help you achieve the pink garden of your dreams. So, follow along as we dive into everything pink!
Looking at color theory, pink can evoke feelings of unconditional love, playfulness, positivity, femininity, and calm. We can use that information to our advantage when looking at designing garden spaces. Maybe you just love the color pink, and you’re already sold on designing with the color, and that’s great. But, if you’ve been looking for that perfect flowering shrub to plant around your yard and you want the space to exude playfulness and positivity or femininity and calmness, think about including pink in your design.
Lucky for us all, both The Original Hydrangeas and Summer Crush® Hydrangeas have beautiful pink blooms. It’s important to remember that depending on the pH and presence of aluminum in your soil, your hydrangea blooms can be different colors, even on the same plant. Generally, if you want to have pink hydrangea blooms, you will need to have a pH of above 6.0. If you’re unsure what that all means (and no worries if you don’t!), watch our Hydrangea Soil Science video for details on changing bloom colors. Hint: the whole video is excellent, but Ryan dives into the specifics starting at the 2:37 minute mark.
To make a truly special garden that is sure to be the talk of the town, you need to start with amazing plants and stellar plant pairings. So, when designing a garden with the color pink, it’s important to know the basics. What colors complement pink? For some, this may be a trip back to elementary school, but it’s time to reference the color wheel. We know that the complementary color to pink is green, secondary colors are blues and oranges, and analogous (or similar) are purples and reds. This simple color matching provides a great starting point when looking for which plants to pair with your pink blooms.
Lucky for us, green is probably the most common color in the garden, so pretty much anything will complement pink, as seen with the entry above. Achieve this look at home by planting Summer Crush® with an evergreen like First Editions® Straight & Narrow Japanese Holly to provide multiseason interest.
If you want to add in other colors, try something like seen with this walkway. These pink blooms of Summer Crush® pop when paired with accents of yellow, purple, and white blooms. Try this at home by pairing your Summer Crush® with the purple of BloomStruck® Hydrangeas and different colored perennials mixed throughout.
If you’re the type of person who can’t get enough pink, pair multiple plants of the same variety together in one space, like The Original Hydrangea. This design technique is called mass planting and is a favorite design technique for many. It not only makes a stunning impact of bold color in the landscape but also makes garden care easier as you will now only have to know how to care for one plant variety. We love using this technique to create hedges of hydrangeas along a fence or foundation or in those large areas in the yard that need something special, but you still want that space to be easy.
While not mass planting, you can achieve a similar impact with a mass of color by planting different shades of pink together. A great tip for doing this well is making sure that other surrounding plants are “neutral” tones that match both shades of pink, whether that’s just the base green color in the garden or a plant with silver leaves. This is another time when using the color wheel really can come in handy!
Maybe you have a space where mass planting won’t work, you don’t have the space, or you prefer smaller patches of color in the yard. If that’s the case, add pink into your space with decorative containers. Summer Crush® is an ideal hydrangea for containers with its smaller, more compact size. Place these decorative containers on a deck, patio, entryway, or even right in the middle of your garden for some fantastic pops of pink! For care and planting tips for your hydrangea containers, make sure to watch our episode of Garden Gab™ dedicated to gardening with containers.
It’s also important to remember the changing of seasons. For example, Blushing Bride Hydrangea has beautiful white blooms. But in the fall, those blooms age and can have a blushing of pink. How plants change and evolve throughout the seasons is just one more important factor to consider when designing with color.
Whether you use pink everywhere in the garden or as little pops of color throughout, designing with a color like pink in mind can do wonders for an overall garden design. Creating cohesive gardens isn’t hard. It just takes a little planning on the front end. But, when you’re sitting in your garden surrounded by pink, all the planning will be worth it!
