Formal plants

Plants suited to a formal planting scheme.

A formal border depends on symmetry, clean lines and clipped structure, where the satisfaction comes from order and repetition rather than floral abundance. Evergreen shrubs that take regular clipping provide the architecture, defining edges, framing focal points and holding the design through winter when looser planting has gone. Geometry and balance are everything, so plant in matched pairs and repeated rhythms, and keep the palette disciplined. Within the clipped framework, restrained planting in blocks or standards adds detail without breaking the calm. The mistake is letting informality creep in and blur the lines. These plants are chosen for crisp structure, clippability and the poised, architectural quality that a formal scheme requires.

Border Builder is a garden border planner for iPhone and iPad. Pick from the 172 plants below and it works them into a full plan: how many of each, where they go, and how the bed reads through the seasons.

172 plants for this

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