TEXTURE
Texture relates to the coarseness or fineness of a leaf, roughness or smoothness of the bark, heaviness or lightness of the foliage or other components used in the landscape plan. 
◦ In terms of plants, the large, glossy leaves of Bergenia cordifolia "Bressingham Ruby"- Bressingham Ruby Bergenia- make it a coarse textured plant when compared to the medium textured plant Pachysandra terminalis- Japanese Spurge- used adjacent to fine textured grass.
If you use ornamental grasses, for example, a gradation of textures from fine to medium to coarse could be as follows:
1. Festuca glauca "Elijah Blue"- Blue Festuca Grass
2. Deschampsia caespitosa- Tufted Hair Grass
3. Calamagrostis x acutiflora "Karl Forester"- Feather Reed Grass
Texture in the landscape depends upon the distance from which the plant is viewed by the observer. The overall mass of the plant is the dominating feature and the fineness or softness of a leaf or branching pattern is lost.
◦ In terms of the overall planting plan, texture must balance in relationship to the axis.
- Weight on one side should equal the mass on the other side of the axis. For instance, much fine texture- as the case would be in using Buxus- is required to balance relatively little coarse texture, as the case would be in the use of Viburnum rhytidophyllum, the Leatherleaf Viburnum. - Intermediate plants are recommended to provide the necessary transition from one textural extreme to the other.
COLOR
Color theory is a very complex and very personal matter that expresses individual taste and feeling.
 * Warm colors such as reds, oranges and yellows tend to advance towards to viewer while blues, violets and greens tend to recede into the landscape.
* Warm colors read well and affect the eye more quickly than do cool colors.
* When using warm colors, they should be used in sequence which must be smooth and gradual. Sample: red to scarlet to orange scarlet to orange to bronze to orange yellow to yellow to pale yellow to cream to white. Decision of the use of color in plantings requires a thorough, practical understanding of the personality of the plants. In order to vigorously use color and effective color combinations requires a thorough knowledge of plants, their colors and seasonal changes with detail of twig, leaf, flower and fruit as well as principles of color.
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