Question
Hi,

I recently moved into my first house and I am very eager to start landscaping, but I have tons of questions.  

-My house is brick and has black shutters and a plain wood deck and a chainlink fence.  I know brick comes in bluish shades, orangish shades and stuff, but really I think mine would be described as a true brick red.  I am wondering what colors should I plant?  My thoughts are to stay away from red, would this be advised?  Also, I'm thinking purple, white and green would look best, what do you think?  

-Does it look nice to pick one flower color and stick with it?  I think I'd like to do this, but I'm not sure if it would look good?

-What is your advice for deciding where to plant things. For example, what types of plants do you put in front, where do you decide to plant trees, what looks good next to a fence.  

-We are also considering making a brick sidewalk leading to our house.  Would it look right to plant something parallel to the sidewalk.  If so what color, height any other advice for that.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Answer
Elizabeth,

You're right about the staying away from reddish plants that will be seen with the brick as a backdrop.  They'll just be lost.  Two examples I see where I work are a Paperbark Maple against a red brick wall, and some Nandina against a brick chimney.  Both interesting plants, but both lost with no contrasting background.

Speaking of background, that brings up point of view.  When I'm approaching a new space, I plant things where they will be seen most often by the most number of people.  So I won't necessarily do the traditional foundation plantings (mimicking every hardscape line with a plant line...house, walk, fence, etc).  What do you what to see when you drive up after you've been at work?  What do you want to see when you look out the window when you do your dishes?  What do you want to see (or block sight of) as you sit on your deck BBQing with friends?

As far a one color vs many...the "flower year" progresses through colors, so that, here in Portland, my whites & blues are all out in late spring, then come the pinks of early summer, with the yellows & oranges bringing up the rear of late summer & autumn.  Of course there are exceptions to this, but it's weird how true it is in my personal garden.   I just mention this to say that if you decide to stick with one color, you might end up with a great 1 or two months, only to be drawing a blank the rest of the year.

Hope this helps some,
Mark in Portland