Use the landscape

Provide a crisp frame Add height and drama

Make the garden feel bigger by borrowing from your surroundings – neighbouring trees can help create a lush green setting.

Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’ ‘Warrior’

Pennisetum villosum

Aster umbellatus

A profusion of white daisy flowers on tall, upright stems in late summer. H1.2m (4ft) S60cm (2ft)

Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’

Fleshy, purple-green stems and leaves provide a backdrop for dense clusters of pink, star-like flowers. H60cm (2ft) S45cm (18in)

Phormium tenax ‘Purpureum’

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Flamingo’

Tall miscanthus with dark-green, spearshaped leaves and dark pink plumes. H2m (6ft 6in) S60cm (2ft)

Stipa gigantea

Cortaderia richardii

Graceful mound-forming evergreen pampas grass with towering silvery flower plumes. H3m (10ft) S2m (6½ft)

Keep hedges neatly clipped and grass paths mown and edged to create crisp lines. This gives the softer, more relaxed planting areas stronger definition. Use bold plantings of tall grasses – even in a small garden – to create drama. Panicum virgatum Cortaderia richardii