Boxwood, privet, ornamental
grasses, and other foliage
plants in this restful (mostly)
green garden.

The Benefits of One

Single-color gardens show as much boldness and flair as the most elaborately matched schemes. A one-color strategy frees you to master the brushstrokes of form and texture. It also allows enough elbow room to explore a single-color palette's potential in pale and deep shades.

Consider green, for example; it doesn't fatigue the eye. It offers an endlessly varying palette, from true green, gray-green, and blue-green to purple-green and yellow-green. Each has a different impact.

Related Slide Show: Best Green Leaf Plants for Your Garden

In small, all-green spaces, paint with plenty of blue-green plants. Blue-tint leaves have the same deepening effect as blue flowers. Blue hostas and Solomon's seal visually widen shady areas with their broad leaves. Meadowrue (Thalictrum) and Rosa glauca weave lacy texture into all-green gardens.

Color contrasts in a monochromatic garden rouse a simple palette and make it sing. Purple-green looks dramatic when rubbing elbows with yellow-green, for example. Blend pools of true green or silvery green in between.

Related Feature: Creating Colorful Foliage Gardens