First Time Aquascaping

[argoma]

Hello everybody,
I'm getting a new tank, a 15 gallon and I'm interested in planting it and making it very natural looking.
I want it to be simple but beautiful. I would like to have some driftwood or any kind of wood in there with some plants showing up and light sand, or use rocks instead as a center piece and some plants around with light colored sand as well. I have a moss ball that I would include in the layout.
I'm probably going to have some rasboras in the tank or my betta, don't know yet. Maybe shrimp too.
I would like you guys to help me with plants and materials that I would have to buy to creat this kind of layout. I will leave you some images that I got from google to show what i like the most.
Thanks!
 

 

 

[daizeUK]

Most of these pictures are using Christmas or Spiky moss to emulate tree canopies.  The grass in the 2nd & 3rd picture looks like eleocharis parvula, the 1st picture I'm not so sure, possibly echinodorus tenellus?  The 'bushes' in the fourth picture looks like fissidens.
 
You would most likely need CO2 + ferts to recreate the compact growth in any of these scapes, of course.

 

[BerryAttack]

easy way IMO 
substrate : dirt with light or dark small gravel to cap it. never sand
plants: ground cover can be dwarf hair grass other plants will depend on the look you are going for.
background plants: depends of what you are going for, but large swords is probably a no because they will get to big.
 
the idea is that you need plants that will take over quickly, and are beginner... have tall plants at the back, medium/small plants for the middle ground and small plants for the front.
before adding plants you need to get the substrate in and your pieces, then you can work around then for which plants to add. so before getting plants think of how you want the drift wood to look like.. then you can expand on what plants to add.
also because you have a small tank, have thin non-bulky pieces of drift wood, it'll give the tank more. spider driftwood looks great.. 

 

[mike455555]

first pic plants isent echinodorus tenellus its UG (utricularia graminifolia)  and i agree you would need CO2 and Ferts as well as high light, if you want an easy carpet plant tenellus would be a good choice, it would grow slowly in low light but its tough, as for moss's there fairly easy but as said if you want compact growth you would need co2, unless you used riccia. so that might be a better option, the problem with riccia is it gets everywhere...