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Modern garden design and ideas

Modern garden design means clean lines and a few materials: large paving slabs, a crisp lawn or deck, grasses and clipped evergreens repeated in blocks, and one strong feature such as a pergola, a water rill or a built-in seat.

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Paved garden with a rill and a tree, a modern garden idea

Paved garden with a rill and a tree

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28 real modern garden ideas

28 pictures of modern and contemporary gardens, every one a real garden redesigned with the app. Tap Before to see how it started, or Get this garden to try the look on yours.

Modern patio ideas

Porcelain, stone and timber decks with an outdoor sofa or a table, softened by grasses and bold leaves. 9 gardens

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See it as a modern garden in about a minute.

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Modern pergola ideas

Modern pergola designs in black, white and cedar, over a table or a seat, with planting right up to the posts. 4 gardens

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Modern back garden ideas

Back gardens with a crisp lawn, edged in grey paving or framed by borders, some crossed by stepping slabs. 9 gardens

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Modern planting ideas

Grasses, clipped evergreens and spiky leaves in repeated blocks: contemporary planting ideas from a front tree bed to a small courtyard. 6 gardens

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See it as a modern garden in about a minute.

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How to design a modern garden

The few ideas behind every garden above, and how to create a contemporary garden design of your own from them.

What makes a modern garden

Modern garden design, also called contemporary garden design, comes down to a few ideas: clean lines, a short list of materials used generously, and planting that repeats rather than mixes. Large slabs, a timber deck or a crisp lawn give the shapes; grasses, clipped evergreens and a few bold leaves fill them. Minimalist garden ideas take the same rules further, with fewer plants and more open space.

Modern garden paving ideas

Modern paving ideas all start the same way: pick one paving and one accent and use them everywhere, grey or pale porcelain with black gravel, or sandstone with timber. Lay big slabs with narrow joints, edge beds in steel or smooth render, and stain fences a dark colour so the planting stands out against them.

How to lay out a modern garden

Start with what stays: the house, the fences and any trees. Then draw the garden in straight lines or one clean curve: a terrace by the house, a lawn or a second terrace beyond, and a path or stepping slabs between them. Give it one strong feature, a pergola, a water rill or a fire table, and keep everything else quiet. On a small plot the same rules hold, with fewer pieces; see our small modern garden ideas for how to fit them in.

Modern garden border ideas

Good modern planting design comes down to one rule: choose six to eight plants and repeat them. Take a grass such as hakonechloa or stipa, an evergreen shape such as clipped balls or a multi-stem tree, and one or two flowers in a tight colour range, and plant each in a block rather than dotting it about, so modern garden borders read as clearly as the paving.

Green and foliage garden ideas →Dramatic dark border ideas →

See it on your own garden first

Garden Design App builds modern garden designs around your actual garden. It reads a photo of your space, keeps your trees and fences where they are, and redesigns it in clean lines, grasses and evergreens you could genuinely grow.

From an idea to a plan you can plant

When one of the designs clicks, the Pro and Max plans name every plant, how big each grows and where each goes, with a month by month flowering calendar so the grasses and evergreens carry the garden through winter.

12 modern garden plants

The plants that make the look: a few kinds, repeated, with evergreens to hold the shape through winter.

  • Ornamental grasses
  • Clipped evergreen balls
  • Multi-stem trees
  • Euphorbia
  • Salvias
  • Sedum
  • Verbena bonariensis
  • Perovskia
  • Phormium
  • Hakonechloa
  • Alliums
  • Ferns

Evergreen structure plants →

More modern garden ideas

  • Pale paving and a curved lawn edged in brick, with deep borders of catmint, salvias and coneflowers below a brick gable

    If you are starting a garden from scratch, see a bare yard of old slabs under a blank brick wall turned into pale paving, a curved lawn and deep borders.

  • A narrow garden with a curving herringbone stone path between borders of grasses and perennials

    A narrow strip of artificial grass becomes a curving path of herringbone paving through grasses and perennials.

  • Stepping stones through gravel past a cloud-pruned pine, a red acer, clipped evergreens and a stone water basin

    For a calmer look with the same clean lines, see our modern Japanese garden ideas: acers, clipped evergreens and stepping stones through gravel.

Other garden styles

Modern garden design questions

What is a modern garden?

A garden built on clean lines and a few materials: large paving slabs or a timber deck, a crisp lawn, and planting of grasses, clipped evergreens and bold leaves repeated in blocks. Contemporary garden ideas mean the same look.

What is the difference between a modern and a minimalist garden?

Minimalist garden design takes modern ideas further: fewer plants, fewer materials and more open space, often one tree and a single grass on pale paving. Most modern gardens sit between minimalist gardens and a full border, with clean lines and generous planting.

How do I make my garden look modern?

Straighten the lines, use one paving throughout, stain the fences a dark colour, and swap mixed planting for blocks of a few plants repeated. Add one strong feature, such as a pergola, a water rill or a built-in bench. Or add a photo of your garden and see it as a modern garden in about a minute.

Do modern gardens have a lawn?

Many do. A rectangle of lawn edged in grey paving is one of the most common modern layouts, and many of the gardens above keep one. Others swap the lawn for paving, decking or gravel.

Can I see a modern garden on my own garden?

Yes. Add a photo of your garden, choose the modern style, and see your own garden redesigned in about a minute. Your trees, fences and house stay.

Are the plants real, and can I buy them?

Yes. With the Pro and Max plans every design names its plants: garden centre favourites and RHS Award of Garden Merit winners, chosen by a professional gardener, with how big each grows and where each goes.

Is it free?

Your first 3 designs are free, with no card needed. The Pro plan is £29 and the Max plan is £49, paid once, with nothing to cancel.

Can I try more than one modern garden idea?

Yes. Make different designs and compare them on your own garden. Your first 3 are free, and Pro, one payment of £29, gives you 20 designs over 14 days, two at a time, so you can see several looks side by side.

Why does my redesign look like high summer?

We show your garden at its peak, in full flower, so you can see how full it can look. It is an artist's impression: your real garden changes through the seasons. Every paid design comes with a flowering calendar, so you know what flowers each month, and evergreen shapes help it look good in winter.

See your own garden in clean, modern lines.

Try any of these modern garden design ideas on your own garden in about a minute. Your first 3 designs are free.

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