Plants for contemporary / modern garden
In this section we showcase the best plants for modern garden designs. Contemporary gardens are known for their co-ordinated, uniform design, following the principles of simplicity, efficiency and functionality. They tend to have a more formal appearance than the cottage garden, making use of grid-based planting and repeat patterns, perhaps interspersed with paving. A design trend of choosing architectural plants for their structural qualities started from the 1950s onwards. Some of the best architectural perennials are hostas, red hot poker plants and agapanthus, while architectural grasses like phormiums, carex and yucca are popular too. In the shrubs department, the beautiful, large, deeply lobed leaves of fatsia provide a fantastic feature in the border or containers in a modern garden, while variegated aucuba varieties work well for shady spots. An alternative approach to create a more informal yet still contemporary appearance is to densely plant large-leaved foliage plants and grasses to add texture and movement yet still feel naturalistic.