After the illustration of ecological restoration and research situation of foreign and domestic rivers,the paper has analyzed the relation between plants and river ecological restoration.By taking Jialu River that is the main river of Zhengzhou City,for example,it has introduced the general situation of the project and the site,water quality of the river,and soil survey and testing.It has pointed out that the structural system of ecological space of "one corridor,one core and five areas" has formed in ecological restoration project.On this basis,it has analyzed plants disposition forms in waterfront area,emphasized combining aquatic plants and urban waterfront areas to construct a natural ecological river channel which will be a new design idea for ecological reconstruction in modern urban waterfront area.