A good principle of landscape design is to plant in drifts. The idea is if you plant in drifts or masses you are imitating nature making the landscape more natural looking. Instead of planting just one plant of a type, plant 5 or 10.

Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’) and Japanese Maple.

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) and Berberis.

Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’) and Miscanthus.

Variegated Lomandra (Lomandra longifolia ‘Platinum Beauty’)

Sunset Rockrose (Cistus ‘Sunset’)

Dwarf Golden Barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Golden Nugget’) and Dianthus.

Lomandra longifolia ‘Breeze’

Mediterranean Heath (Erica darleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ or ‘Furzey’)

Atlas Fescue (Festuca mairei) and Grevillea ‘Noelii’

Hydrangea arborescens and Hydrangea paniculata in Portland Oregon.

Buckwheats, Miscanthus, and Salix.