Abstract: To screen out garden plants suitable for soils contaminated with different types of microplastics (MPs), this study evaluated the effects of soil contamination by four types of MPs, i.e., polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polylactic acid (PLA), and polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) on the growth and physiological characteristics of three ornamental grasses, namely, Cortaderia selloana, Pennisetum alopecuroides, and Miscanthus sinensis. Plant height and biomass of the three grasses were measured after growth of 90 days in soils contaminated with the MPs, directly reflecting the degree of growth impact; meanwhile, chlorophyll content, soluble sugar content and cell membrane permeability were determined to evaluate their stress resistance. The results showed that: (1) The plant height generally decreased, the biomass of three grasses showed a decreasing trend under all MPs treatments except that of the grass grown in the PS contamination. (2) Chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll b contents of C. selloana exhibited an increase when grass grew in the PLA contamination, whereas those of P. alopecuroides showed a decrease under the PBAT contamination, and no significant changes were observed in the remaining treatments. (3) For C. selloana grown in the PE-and PBAT-contaminated soil and P. alopecuroides grown in the PBAT-contaminated soil, their soluble sugar contents increased; whereas for P. alopecuroides grown in the PS-contaminated soil and M. sinensis grown in the soil contaminated with all four types of MPs, their soluble sugar contents showed a decreasing trend. (4)The cell membrane permeability of the three grasses grown in the soils contaminated with four types of MPs showed generally no significant change, except for a notable increase in M. sinensis after the PLA contamination. In conclusion, different types of MPs may exert different effects on the same indicator of the same plant, and the same MP may also differentially affect the same indicator of different plant species. Additionally, the impact of biodegradable MPs on plant growth may be greater than that of conventional MPs.