There are countless number of ways of growing and combining ornamental plants, and thousands of readily available plants with which to plan a scheme. In a small-sized garden it can be particularly difficult to decide which plants to include. However, in general, the fewer plants that can be used, the higher interest value each should provide, whether from foliage, flowers, shape, or attractive bark or fruit. Plants with a flashy but very short display may be tempting to grow but are unlikely to win a place in the planting scheme.

Deciding on a planting design concept or theme is useful as a basis for selecting and positioning plants. In this section, we take a look at some of the broad categories of planting styles you might want to consider.