Paint it black?

A friend of mine has just moved into a new house and asked me for suggestions for her garden. It’s a long, narrow garden and is very nicely laid out, with different levels and terraces, but it does have a rather long, ugly mid-brown fence.

Because the garden is so long, the cost of replacing the fence is far too expensive. Summer is a good time to paint fences, as the dry warm weather will mean paint dries more quickly, although you may have to negotiate around established plants.

So I have suggested that she paint the fence black. She was astonished.

“I’d paint it paler if anything,” she replied.

Top garden designer Charlotte Rowe says that your boundaries make a great deal of difference to how good your garden looks. But she’s had a number of clients who are unwilling to replace an ugly fence or one that is in bad condition.

She always suggests they paint it black instead. That’s because black makes the fence “disappear” more than a paler colour would. It also shows off plants well, especially lighter foliage and brighter flowers.

I also suggested a pretty blue instead, as my friend’s shed is blue so it would tone in. But be aware that, when choosing colours like blue or grey for outside use, they will always look much paler than they appear on the pot.

I’d estimate you need to pick at least two shades darker than the effect you want to achieve. So use tester pots.

To give my friend a better idea of what a black fence would look like, I suggested she put “black fence Pinterest” into Google.

A large number of images of gardens with black fences come up, and you don’t have to join Pinterest to view them. She’s now seriously considering it.