Formal English garden designs use bold lines. To achieve that same look in your garden, create straight paths and repeat the form in gates and plants. When a straight path is accented by vertical plants like the ones below, it gives the impression that the end is further away than it really is.

• Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ (Zones 6 to 8) — a narrow boxwood that grows 10 feet tall.
• Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’ (Zones 2 to 8) — grows 20 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Another vertical cultivar, J. communis ‘Pencil Point’, grows 5 feet tall and 1 foot wide.
• Picea omorika (Zones 4 to 8) — Serbian spruce is a large vertical tree that grows up to 60 feet tall and 25 feet wide.
• Quercus robur ‘Fastigiata’ (Zones 4 to 8) — Deciduous tree that grows 60 feet tall and 15 feet wide.
• Taxus x media ‘Hicksii’ (Zones 4 to 8) — Has deep green foliage. Grows 20 feet tall and 3 feet wide; takes shearing.
• Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’ (also ‘Emerald’) (Zones 3 to 8) — A single arborvitae makes a good accent; this cultivar grows 15 feet tall and 4 feet wide.