Front garden colours

[StyleDesperation]

Evening all. We are having work done on our front garden replacing old walls, bumpy paths etc. We will have four big and distinct flower beds when done and are planning to have different colour schemes for each bed, with some continuity between them. It's cottage garden style and wondering if we should totally embrace that and just plant all colours intermixed? Thoughts please! Also, good recommendations for shrubs for structure in a cottage garden scheme would be great.

That sounds really full on for a front garden. What style and era is your house? How big is your front garden?

The house is Edwardian and the front garden is about 28 x 15 feet (there's also a driveway to the side).

I would stick to a few colours with variety in greens in between. My favourite is shades of pink/ purple/blue and white but l have got a bit stuck on that so throw in a few surprises l would also stick to a narrower range of plants instead of lots of different ones as a peaceful, pleasing on the eye front garden is so beautiful. So plant a few of each together.

What colours did you have in mind? Pink, white, blue, purple, relatively harmonious and relaxing, red, purple, orange, blue, not so much

So one of the beds is currently blue/bluey mauve, white and yellow. But we're wondering whether to have the same theme across all four beds or whether to have a harmonious, but different, scheme in each bed.

My front garden is an explosion of colour and I love it!

I have pinks, purples (from light to so dark it’s almost black), blues, white, orange, yellow all mixed together in the same beds.

I like purple, yellow and white together.

I'd go for loads of lavender and albums for example.

Sounds lovely.

I’d go for a mix of herbs and wildflowers - plant herbs I use frequently and probably just scatter wildflower mix with some foxgloves and poppies dotted around the remaining areas.

Maybe add some height with a couple of potted olive trees/topiary depending on how it develops!

I wouldn't do wild flowers in the front garden. They are fabulous when they are blooming but the rest of the season can be a bit of a mess and not a sight l would want greeting me each evening. I keep wild flowers around the back so l can enjoy them in their glory but ignore their poorer season. I always think the front needs a bit more care.

@Powertothepetal so this was the original plan, but then I lost my nerve a bit! Would you be willing to share a picture?

We have a large back garden with herb beds and a wildflower area etc so while I would like to incorporate some cottage garden planting of some ornamental edibles etc, it doesn't need to perform as the main garden. I just love walking past beautiful flowery front gardens and have a terrible habit for buying lots and lots of plants without working out quite where they're going to go. I'm trying to restrain myself a bit so the suggestion of planting multiples of the same plant is one I need to try and follow I think! Perhaps limiting the number of plant types but a bit more free reign on colour?

OP, the same garden can be different colours at different times of year. Mine starts off yellow in Spring, with daffodils, primroses and kerria, turns blue as the sea of self seeding forget me nots erupts along with bluebells and muscara, changes to hot reds pinks and purple as the summer lavender, roses, catmint, snapdragons, sweet williams and azaleas flower, then in autumn goes mainly purple with buddleia and giant clematis.
You need to think about the flowering season as well as the colour of flower.

I'm loving heucheras at the moment. I have purple dark red and lime. Many varieties to choose from and look great with minimal upkeep

Think about winter. We designed ours to provide interest in winter, including evergreens and lots of berries, and somehow it is interesting all the year round.