Complementary planting groups – elevate your garden design

The art of grouping plants can transform your garden into a stunning, cohesive space. Thoughtful plant combinations not only enhance visual appeal but can also guide the eye toward key features or cleverly disguise less attractive views. Our plant selections are carefully dictated by their designated function within a space, the themes of the design, and the conditions under which they will grow, ensuring they thrive while complementing the overall aesthetic. Whether you’re looking to create harmony or add a dynamic edge, the way you arrange plants plays a vital role. We sat down with our landscape designers to uncover the inspiration and rationale behind some of our favourite planting projects – here’s what they shared.

Plant combination one: Senecio Serpens ‘Blue chalk sticks’, Buxus Balls, Lomandra ‘Lime Tuff’, Pittosporum ‘Miss Muffet’, Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, and Thymus Serpyllum ‘Creeping Thyme’

This contemporary landscape leverages a combination of Blue Chalksticks, Buxus Balls, Lime Tuff, Miss Muffet, Silver Falls, and Creeping Thyme to offer a visually striking and texturally diverse design, perfect for a contemporary home. The high contrast in colour and texture creates a modern, bold look – a number of silver selections work particularly well alongside the burnished concrete pavement.

The Buxus Balls remain the focal point of the design, with their clean, rounded shapes providing structure and form. The contrasting Blue Chalksticks and Miss Muffet help to highlight the Buxus Balls while adding their own sculptural appeal. The soft, silvery hues of the Blue Chalksticks and Silver Falls create a beautiful contrast against the darker tones of the Buxus Balls and the vibrant green of Lime Tuff.

Silver Falls and Creeping Thyme work well in this space for gap planting, helping to break up the hard surfaces and improve drainage on site. Creeping Thyme adds a fragrant, aromatic element, while the soft, cascading growth of Silver Falls brings movement and texture to the landscape.

Plant combination two: Pittosporum ‘Miss Muffet’, Viburnum Suspensum, Tristaniopsis Laurina

In this simple, layered planting mix, Miss Muffet makes a good choice for front borders or as a low accent, while Viburnum suspensum serves as a screening shrub in the arrangement and a beautiful, evergreen tree – Tristaniopsis laurina works where there is sufficient space for a third layer, between the two shrubs, creating additional interest and height to the planting.

These three plants create a rich, green-on-green palette that is also relatively easy care. Their height, spacing, growth habits and colours ensure they complement each other both in form and function.

Plant combination three: Doryanthes, Casuarina ‘Cousin It’, Ficinia, Westringia

Grouping these plants creates a striking, textural landscape with a mix of coastal, native, and drought-tolerant plants.

The tall, dramatic Doryanthes creates an eye-catching focal point, while the fine, cascading foliage of Cousin It softens the overall design. The grassy, vertical elements of Ficinia and the aromatic, silvery leaves of Westringia provide contrast and interest. Together, these plants are well-suited for a coastal, native, or low-maintenance garden.

Plant combination four: Trachelospermum Jasminoides ‘Star Jasmine’, Pyrus sp. ‘Capital Pear’, Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, and Casuarina ‘Cousin It’

This combination of Star Jasmine, Capital Pear, Silver Falls, and Cousin It brings a beautiful contrast of forms, colours, and textures. The vertical elegance of the Capital Pear, combined with the cascading, silver foliage of Silver Falls and the soft, weeping texture of Cousin It, create a dynamic and layered garden. The fragrant flowers of Star Jasmine will add seasonal appeal, while the narrow form of the Capital Pear provides structure and height. Overall, this mix offers a visually rich, low-maintenance planting scheme with year-round interest.

Plant combination five: Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, Vitis Vinifera ‘Ornamental Grape Vine’, Pittosporum ‘Miss Muffet’, Trachelospermum Jasminoides ‘Star Jasmine’, Pyrus sp. ‘Capital Pear’

By combining plants with different textures and forms, such as the cascading Silver Falls, vertical Ornamental Grape Vine, and compact Miss Muffet, you create a visually dynamic design. The smooth, dark green leaves of Miss Muffet contrast with the silvery foliage of Silver Falls and the glossy green leaves of Star Jasmine, enhancing visual interest and depth.

Each plant offers seasonal beauty, ensuring year-round appeal. The Capital Pear tree blooms in spring with white flowers and features vibrant fall foliage. Star Jasmine and Silver Falls provide fragrance and trailing growth throughout the growing season, while the Ornamental Grape Vine adds stunning colour in Autumn. This combination of colours, flowers, and foliage creates a garden that is always changing and full of interest.

Plant combination six: Leucophyta silver nugget ‘Cushion Bush’, Carissa ‘Desert Star’, Rhaphiolepis ‘Snow Maiden’, Agave Americana, Miscanthus ‘Chinese Silver Grass’, Frangipani

Combining Cushion Bush, a rounded, soft shrub with silvery foliage with Desert Star, a compact shrub with glossy leaves and small white flowers, and Snow Maiden, a medium-sized evergreen shrub with dense foliage and delicate white blossoms—creates a beautifully layered scheme rich in textures. The sharp, architectural form of Agave Americana, a striking spiky succulent, provides a dramatic contrast to the softer, rounded shrubs and the wispy, arching plumes of Miscanthus. Meanwhile, the Frangipani adds vertical scale with its sculptural form and fragrant, showy flowers.

This plant palette offers a visually diverse, low-maintenance, and environmentally sustainable garden. The blend of textures, colors, and growth forms creates a dynamic landscape that attracts pollinators, conserves water and delivers year-round appeal. It’s a harmonious combination of plants designed to thrive together, offering ecological, aesthetic, and practical benefits.

If you’re looking for further advice on planting and landscape design and construction, contact TDL today to discuss your project. Our experienced team can assist with all aspects of landscaping, from design and plant selection to construction, and can help you create and maintain a beautiful and functional outdoor space. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help bring your landscaping vision to life.