An autumn colour border that blazes late.
Most gardens fade in autumn – but they do not have to. An autumn colour border, planned for fiery foliage, late flowers, glowing grasses and sculptural seed heads, saves the best for last, blazing away when everything around it is winding down.
First design free · no card needed · UK plants
After
BeforeHow to plant for autumn colour
Autumn colour comes from two sources: foliage that fires up as the nights draw in – acers, cotinus and grasses turning scarlet, gold and tawny – and the late-flowering perennials that peak just as summer fades, like heleniums, asters and rudbeckias. Plan both in from the start and the garden has a whole second season.
Resist tidying too early. Grasses and seed heads left standing are some of the most beautiful things in the autumn and winter garden, glowing in low sun and glittering with the first frosts. An autumn border rewards you exactly when most gardens have given up.
Plants for autumn colour
Your planting plan lists them in full, with how many to buy and where each goes – so the garden in the picture is one you can actually plant.
Japanese acers
the fireworks of autumn – scarlet, orange and gold leaves
Ornamental grasses
tawny, glowing and beautiful in low autumn light
Rudbeckia
golden daisies that carry the border into autumn
Helenium
russet and gold for the late-season peak
Sedum
dusky-pink heads that deepen and feed late butterflies
Asters
a haze of late purple and mauve flower
Japanese anemones
elegant flowers right into autumn
Cotinus (smoke bush)
foliage that turns fiery orange and red
Persicaria
long-flowering spires that last into the cold
Seed heads
left standing to catch the first frosts
See an autumn border on your own garden
Upload a photo of your garden, choose an autumn-colour scheme, and see it redesigned for a fiery late season – a photorealistic picture of your own borders, keeping your structure as it is.
When you love it, the planting plan names every plant, how many to buy and where each goes, with a flowering calendar so you can see it peak in autumn. Your first design is free.
Good to know.
Everything people ask about a autumn colour border.
How does the AI garden design work?
Upload a photo of your garden or a single border, and tell us what you'd like: refresh your borders, keeping your garden's shape, or redesign the whole space with new layout, paths and planting. Pick a style, and we generate a photorealistic redesign of your actual garden. When you love one, unlock its planting plan – every plant, how many to buy, and where each goes.
Are the plants real – can I actually buy and plant them?
Yes. Every design can become a planting plan of real, available UK plants, with quantities, each plant's mature height and spread, where it goes and a month-by-month flowering guide. The plans are built on real horticultural data and shaped by a professional gardener – not generic AI guesses – so the garden in the picture is a garden you can genuinely plant.
Is the first design really free, and what does it cost after?
Your first design is genuinely free, with no card required. After that, subscriptions start at £19 a month. The professional planting plan is a separate one-off you only buy if you want to make a design real.
Which plants give the best autumn colour?
Japanese acers and smoke bush for fiery foliage, ornamental grasses for glowing tawny tones, and late perennials like heleniums, asters and rudbeckias for flower. Leaving seed heads standing adds structure and catches the first frosts.
Other colour schemes.
Your garden is one photo away.
See it redesigned in about two minutes. The first one's on us.