Garden ideas: How to combine contemporary and classic design elements in your garden

Combining the styles requires a certain amount of artistry and restraint. But a contemporary garden with classic elements can be unique when executed well. Material, shape and colour can come together in new combinations, offering contrast and complement in ways previously unimagined.

Elements of contemporary and classic garden design

The key to creating a hybrid of contemporary and classic garden design is knowing when there is enough of one to complement the other. Balancing two design styles requires an understanding of the critical features of both and how to use them wisely to achieve the desired effect. Here are a few examples of how you might use contemporary and classic design features in combination:

• Colours. Modern garden designs often use stark and striking colours, including jet-black, bare wood shades and pale creams. Offset these with the more muted tones associated with classic garden style, and you can explore a spectrum of colour in your garden.
• Shapes. Traditional gardens focus on elegant curves and arches with soft or ragged edges in hard landscaping. In contemporary gardens, shapes are defined by simple, precise lines. Alternating between these two styles will spark visual diversity that will keep the garden interesting.
• Flowers and plants. Modern-style gardens have a deliberate and methodical approach to flowers and plants, with bursts of single colours and shapes. Pampas grass and white roses are popular contemporary beds, and these can be augmented with more traditional herbaceous borders and lavender.
• Materials. Modern gardens often use materials like steel and porcelain in their design, but there are material aspects that are suitable for both styles. Natural materials are used in both contemporary and classic properties. As the video below shows, you can use traditionally natural stone in a contemporary setting.
  

Summary

With a bit of ingenuity, there is no reason why modern and traditional style garden design elements can’t sit side by side. Remember that you can also use paths, walls and other hard landscaping to zone your garden, so you can have the best of both contemporary and class garden styles.