How to quickly transform your garden… just add some strappy plants. It’s the simplest way to take dull, outdated plantings and lift them into being described as edgy and lovely. It doesn’t really matter which strappy plants you decide to add to your existing garden, but picking something easy-to-grow and good-looking makes a lot of sense. Here are two of the best – one tall and broad-leafed and the other shorter and finer foliaged. Both are easy to find and will do a terrific job with no effort from you, apart from planting them.

1. Burgundy Spire^™ is a cordyline, and like any cordyline, Burgundy Spire has strappy leaves. These are special, thanks not only to being a gorgeous deep burgundy but they are broad and blade-like, and unlike many other cordylines, the foliage covers the truck right down to the ground. Even more impressive is the plant’s height – ten to twelve feet tall and around three feet wide. There are also purple flowers in spring, produced on branchlets 20 inches long. This is a plant to stand out and be noticed and these are the ways to use it best. It’s tall so plant it towards the back of the garden bed. Where structure is needed, set a regimented row to stand behind a loose planting in the foreground. If you want to make something of the entry into your garden, plant cordyline Burgundy Spire on either side of the path to act as sentries. Or if you have a long garden bed filled over time with plants added with no plan, add a couple of clusters of three along its length to give the landscape some intent. To grow cordyline Burgundy Spire, it is best to dig a hole for it somewhere there is full sun, and water it in. Keep it watered for a few weeks then relax.

2. Festival™ cordylines are just as special and stand-out good looking as cordyline Burgundy Spire, but for different reasons. They are smaller – they grow to a little over three feet tall and wide – which means they have different super-powers. They don’t grow a trunk but instead look a lot like a clump of grass. Their foliage is narrow and more cascading (hence the name Fountain™ cordylines, as used in the southern hemisphere) and they too have branchlets, of soft pink, softly scented flowers. But their real stand out is their foliage colour options: Cordyline Festival Burgundy is a deep glossy burgundy; Cordyline Festival Raspberry is a striped combo of burgundy and raspberry pink; and Cordyline Festival Lime is a bright lime green. Armed with these options it’s easy to give a very ordinary garden a massive lift. Tuck a few clusters of three into any existing planting and the whole garden bed will suddenly look intentional. Plant a row along one side of the garden path and the rest of the garden will pick up some design intent by default. Or plant them into containers set out onto the patio and the garden will act as the backdrop and your potted lovelies will take all the attention. Which color to use is up to you: take your cue from the existing plantings or ignore the garden and plant what you like the look of best. To grow a Festival cordyline, dig a hole for it anywhere there is full sun to part shade. Set it low in the hole and water it in. Keep it watered for a few weeks then relax.