Contemporary garden design — feature example — Contemporary compact brick suburban backyard featuring a brick two-story house with wood pergola, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, dark grey paver patio, glowing path lights, and a gravel border.

Contemporary Garden Design

17 contemporary garden designs in the library

Try Contemporary Style

Contemporary gardens borrow from current architectural trends, mixed materials, bold geometry, and statement lighting, while keeping the planting loose and naturalistic. The result feels designed but never sterile.

Palette

warm grey, black, natural wood, deep green, rust accent

Materials

concrete, corten steel, timber decking, gravel, glass

Contemporary garden gallery

Contemporary compact brick suburban backyard featuring a brick two-story house with wood pergola, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, dark grey paver patio, glowing path lights, and a gravel border.

Contemporary Brick Family Backyard with Concrete Planters, Festoon & Paver Patio

Contemporary compact red tile balcony featuring iron railing, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench with cushions, glowing path lights, and a classic apartment city view.

Contemporary Red Tile Balcony with Concrete Planters, Festoon & Modern Bench

Contemporary compact city balcony featuring dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood bench with cushions, slate stepping tiles, glowing path lights, and a glass railing with city skyline view.

Contemporary City Balcony with Concrete Planters, Festoon Lights & Modern Bench

Contemporary white stone traditional backyard featuring a white siding two-story house with stone trim, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, slate paver path, gravel border, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary White Stone Traditional Backyard with Concrete Planters, Festoon & Modern Bench

Contemporary wooded craftsman backyard featuring a tan two-story craftsman house, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, slate paver path, gravel border, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary Wooded Craftsman Backyard with Concrete Planters, Festoon Lights & Modern Bench

Contemporary compact backyard featuring a beige two-story house, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, slate path, gravel border, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary Tan Two-Story Backyard with Concrete Planters, Festoon Lights & Modern Bench

Contemporary suburban front yard featuring a single-story house, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern wood and metal bench, slate path, gravel border, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary Suburban Ranch Front Yard with Festoon Lights, Concrete Planters & Modern Bench

Contemporary compact backyard featuring a small red barn cottage, dark grey concrete raised planters with ornamental grasses, light wood and metal bench with cushions, polished metal sphere garden art, slate stepping stones, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary Red Barn Cottage Backyard with Grasses, Metal Sphere Art & Slate Path

Contemporary side yard featuring an ornate Victorian house, modern grey sectional with light wood coffee table, slate paver path, dark grey concrete planters with conifer topiaries, dwarf ornamental grasses, corten-steel bowl firepit, and a manicured lawn.

Contemporary Victorian Front Yard with Grey Sectional, Slate Path & Corten Firepit

Contemporary front yard featuring a white stone cottage, large concrete planters with agave and ornamental grasses, light wood lounge chairs around a stone firepit, paver patio, glowing path lights, and a manicured lawn.

Contemporary Cottage Front Yard with Concrete Planters, Agave & Firepit Lounge

Contemporary front yard at twilight featuring a colonial farmhouse with festoon string lights, dark grey paver path, dark grey concrete planters with agave and topiaries, lavender and ornamental grasses, glowing path lights, and a low white picket fence.

Contemporary Front Yard with String Lights, Concrete Planters & Glowing Path Lights

Contemporary compact backyard featuring a lime-green sling chair on manicured lawn, festoon string lights overhead, dark grey concrete planters with lavender and ornamental grasses, gravel border, glowing path lights, and a hedge wall backdrop.

Contemporary Backyard with Festoon Lights, Concrete Planters & Gravel Path

Contemporary compact backyard featuring a blue deck chair on artificial lawn, dark grey concrete planters with agave and ornamental grasses, river rock border, glowing path lights, slatted wood fence with a lantern, and a red roof house backdrop.

Contemporary Backyard with Concrete Planters, Agave & River Rocks

Contemporary backyard featuring a mature weeping willow tree, light wood bench, raised concrete planter with succulents and rock garden, concrete steps, manicured lawn, dark green metal mesh fence, and a stone bird-bath.

Contemporary Backyard with Weeping Willow, Raised Concrete Planter & Succulent Rock Garden

Contemporary compact backyard corner featuring vertical wall planters with succulents on the wood fence, festoon string lights, dark grey concrete planters with grasses, black river rock border with heuchera, and a dark grey bench.

Contemporary Compact Backyard Corner with Vertical Wall Planters, Succulents & River Rocks

Contemporary courtyard featuring a vine-covered brick wall, horizontal wood slat privacy screen, dark metal bench with cushions, dark grey concrete planters with agave, copper bowl water fountain, festoon string lights, and a stone-edged border.

Contemporary Courtyard with Slat Screen, Bench & Bowl Fountain

Modern front yard featuring a flagstone driveway with mixed paver textures, gravel border with lavender shrubs and small topiaries, lawn strip, and path lighting.

Contemporary Front Yard with Stone Driveway & Lavender

How to design a contemporary garden

Mix two or three hardscape materials with intent, concrete with timber decking, gravel with steel edging, a single feature wall in a contrasting finish. Plant in soft drifts of grasses and perennials rather than clipped shapes, so the architecture stays the star. Add one sculptural element: a steel arbour, a stone bench, or a fire bowl on a plinth.

Contemporary design by space

The contemporary look applied to every kind of outdoor space.

Contemporary Backyard — Contemporary compact brick suburban backyard featuring a brick two-story house with wood pergola, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench, dark grey paver patio, glowing path lights, and a gravel border.

Contemporary Backyard

Contemporary Brick Family Backyard with Concrete Planters, Festoon & Paver Patio

Contemporary Balcony — Contemporary compact red tile balcony featuring iron railing, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern light wood and metal bench with cushions, glowing path lights, and a classic apartment city view.

Contemporary Balcony

Contemporary Red Tile Balcony with Concrete Planters, Festoon & Modern Bench

Contemporary Front Yard — Contemporary suburban front yard featuring a single-story house, dark grey concrete planters with ornamental grasses and agave, festoon string lights, modern wood and metal bench, slate path, gravel border, and glowing path lights.

Contemporary Front Yard

Contemporary Suburban Ranch Front Yard with Festoon Lights, Concrete Planters & Modern Bench

Contemporary Courtyard — Contemporary courtyard featuring a vine-covered brick wall, horizontal wood slat privacy screen, dark metal bench with cushions, dark grey concrete planters with agave, copper bowl water fountain, festoon string lights, and a stone-edged border.

Contemporary Courtyard

Contemporary Courtyard with Slat Screen, Bench & Bowl Fountain

More backyard designs →More balcony designs →More front yard designs →More courtyard designs →

Plants for contemporary gardens

A reliable starting palette for the contemporary style — full growing guides on each.

Ornamental Grasses — recommended for contemporary gardens

Ornamental Grasses

Various genera

Movement, texture, and year-round interest. Ornamental grasses add a naturalistic, modern element to any garden with minimal care required.

Japanese Maple — recommended for contemporary gardens

Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum

The most elegant small tree for any garden. Japanese maples offer stunning leaf shapes, spectacular fall color, and graceful architectural form.

Boxwood — recommended for contemporary gardens

Boxwood

Buxus

The foundation of formal garden design. Boxwood provides year-round evergreen structure, takes shaping beautifully, and defines spaces with elegant precision.

Succulents — recommended for contemporary gardens

Succulents

Various genera

Living sculptures for modern gardens. Succulents store water in fleshy leaves, creating geometric, colorful arrangements that thrive on neglect.

Lavender — recommended for contemporary gardens

Lavender

Lavandula

The ultimate garden multitasker: fragrant flowers, silvery foliage, drought tolerance, and pollinator appeal. Lavender thrives in poor soil and full sun.

Get a contemporary redesign of your garden

Upload a photo and the AI returns a photorealistic contemporary redesign in under two minutes.

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Contemporary garden design — frequently asked questions

What is a contemporary garden?

Contemporary gardens borrow from current architectural trends, mixed materials, bold geometry, and statement lighting, while keeping the planting loose and naturalistic. The result feels designed but never sterile.

What plants suit a contemporary garden?

The reliable starting palette for a contemporary garden is ornamental grasses, japanese maple, boxwood, succulents, lavender. Pick three to five and repeat them in mass rather than mixing many varieties — that repetition is what makes a contemporary garden read as designed.

How much does a contemporary garden cost?

Contemporary gardens vary from $5,000–$15,000 for budget builds with quality plants and simple hardscape, $20,000–$50,000 for mid-range builds with proper paving and mature plants, to $100,000+ for full luxury builds with custom water features, integrated lighting, and premium materials. An AI Garden Design redesign costs from $19/mo, far below a real build.

How do I get a contemporary garden design for my own space?

Upload a photo of your current garden, pick Contemporary as the target style, and AI Garden Design returns a photorealistic redesign in under two minutes. The AI keeps your structural elements — house, fence, hardscape — and reimagines the planting, materials, and furniture in the contemporary style.

Other garden design styles

ModernLuxuryJapaneseMediterraneanTropicalCozy

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