Plants for a formal garden
Formal garden designs tend to be geometric, structured, balanced and symmetrical. They normally require a little more maintenance than informal cottage gardens to maintain the neat, tidy appearance and sharp lines. Topiary plants are particularly well suited to formal schemes, trained or clipped into clearly defined shapes such a balls, cubes, obelisks, pyramid cones, or tapering spirals. Irish yew with their dense, columnar growth habit and responsiveness to shearing also fit in well. For show-stopping blooms, look no further than hydrangeas with their stunning, large flower heads in shades of white, pink, red and blue from July through to September. Formal gardens may incorporate ornamental planting schemes around features such as sculptures, pools and fountains as focal points. Perennials may be used along the edges of borders to slightly soften the rigid geometry.