Plant landscape

Author: Su Xuehen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-09-01
Features: Plant landscape, primarily refers to the images presented by vegetation in the natural world, plant communities, and individual plants, which are transmitted to the cerebral cortex through human senses, creating a tangible sense of beauty and association. The term "plant landscape" also includes artificial landscapes that utilize plant themes for creation. Plant landscape design involves using trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants as subjects, employing artistic techniques to fully leverage the natural beauty of plants' forms, lines, and colors (including shaping plants into specific forms) to create plant landscapes. To create a "perfect plant landscape," a high degree of unity between science and art is essential, meaning that it must satisfy both the ecological adaptation between plants and their environment and the aesthetic beauty of individual and collective plant forms, as well as the artistic conception evoked during appreciation. This is a fundamental principle of plant landscape design.
In plant landscape planting design, if the selected plant species cannot adapt to the environmental and ecological conditions of the planting location, they will either fail to survive or grow poorly, failing to meet the requirements of landscape design. If the designed plant communities do not align with the natural development patterns of plant communities, they will struggle to grow and develop to achieve the desired artistic effects. Therefore, adhering to nature and mastering the formation and development of natural plant communities, including their species, structure, layers, and appearance, is the foundation of successful plant landscape design. Different plant species thrive in different environments. Plant Landscape Design discusses environmental factors from an ecological perspective, including the ecological effects of temperature on plants, phenological landscape changes, and plant landscapes across various climate zones; the ecological effects of water on plants, leading to hydrophytic, mesophytic, hygrophytic, xerophytic, and psammophytic ecological types and their respective landscapes; the ecological effects of light on plants, resulting in sun-loving and shade-tolerant plant types; and the ecological effects of soil on plants, where different parent materials and soil properties give rise to distinct vegetation and landscapes.
The above covers the ecological effects of environmental factors such as temperature, water, light, and soil on individual plants, shaping their ecological habits. This is one of the theoretical foundations of plant landscape design. Plant landscape design, which utilizes trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants as subjects to create landscapes, must draw inspiration from the rich diversity of natural plant communities and their expressions. The planting design of cultivated plant communities in plant landscape design must adhere to the natural development patterns of plant communities.
Plant landscape, primarily refers to the images presented by vegetation in the natural world, plant communities, and individual plants, which are transmitted to the cerebral cortex through human senses, creating a tangible sense of beauty and association. The term "plant landscape" also includes artificial landscapes that utilize plant themes for creation. Plant landscape design involves using trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants as subjects, employing artistic techniques to fully leverage the natural beauty of plants' forms, lines, and colors (including shaping plants into specific forms) to create plant landscapes. To create a "perfect plant landscape," a high degree of unity between science and art is essential, meaning that it must satisfy both the ecological adaptation between plants and their environment and the aesthetic beauty of individual and collective plant forms, as well as the artistic conception evoked during appreciation. This is a fundamental principle of plant landscape design.
In plant landscape planting design, if the selected plant species cannot adapt to the environmental and ecological conditions of the planting location, they will either fail to survive or grow poorly, failing to meet the requirements of landscape design. If the designed plant communities do not align with the natural development patterns of plant communities, they will struggle to grow and develop to achieve the desired artistic effects. Therefore, adhering to nature and mastering the formation and development of natural plant communities, including their species, structure, layers, and appearance, is the foundation of successful plant landscape design. Different plant species thrive in different environments. Plant Landscape Design discusses environmental factors from an ecological perspective, including the ecological effects of temperature on plants, phenological landscape changes, and plant landscapes across various climate zones; the ecological effects of water on plants, leading to hydrophytic, mesophytic, hygrophytic, xerophytic, and psammophytic ecological types and their respective landscapes; the ecological effects of light on plants, resulting in sun-loving and shade-tolerant plant types; and the ecological effects of soil on plants, where different parent materials and soil properties give rise to distinct vegetation and landscapes.
The above covers the ecological effects of environmental factors such as temperature, water, light, and soil on individual plants, shaping their ecological habits. This is one of the theoretical foundations of plant landscape design. Plant landscape design, which utilizes trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants as subjects to create landscapes, must draw inspiration from the rich diversity of natural plant communities and their expressions. The planting design of cultivated plant communities in plant landscape design must adhere to the natural development patterns of plant communities. Plant Landscape Design discusses the composition, appearance, and seasonal phases of natural plant communities, their structure, vertical stratification, and interspecies relationships within communities. These are all scientific theoretical foundations for the design of cultivated plant communities in plant landscape design.
In terms of the artistic aspect of plant landscape design, the author not only elaborates on the basic principles of plastic art—diversity and unity, contrast and harmony, symmetry and balance, and rhythm and rhyme—combined with examples of plant groupings, but also provides scientific and artistic analyses of plant landscape design in cities such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Beijing. For example, in the Guangzhou section, the analysis begins with the natural community types and abundant plant resources of Dinghu Mountain (including plants introduced and domesticated over a long period), followed by a detailed scientific and artistic evaluation of the plant landscapes in Guangzhou's parks. In the Hangzhou section, the analysis starts with the natural secondary community types and plant resources in the Xihu Mountain area, then proceeds to an in-depth examination of the characteristics of plant landscape design in Hangzhou's gardens, with high praise for their scientific and artistic standards. In the Beijing section, after analyzing the natural community types in northern and western Beijing mountainous areas and the characteristics of plant landscape design in Beijing's gardens, the author proposes suggestions for further improving their scientific and artistic quality.
In landscapes or scenes, apart from the natural mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and organisms, artificial structures such as buildings, streets, and squares are also essential elements of the landscape. However, bare mountains lack scenic beauty; only when they are adorned with greenery do they exhibit the charm of mountain landscapes. A pool of water, shimmering and vast, may evoke a sense of depth and grandeur, but if combined with the posture and color of plants around it, the waterscape gains even more vibrancy. In gardens, if the terrain is gently rolling with smooth lines, and pointed-topped trees are planted, the perception of the terrain's appearance changes, giving a sense of height. Low-lying buildings, when surrounded by low, round plants, appear even more majestic in contrast. Low-rise buildings, when flanked by pyramidal or conical trees, seem taller than they actually are. Skillfully using the lines, postures, and colors of plants can complement the lines, forms, and colors of buildings.
City streets serve as the corridors of cities, with their primary function being transportation. The sides of streets are primarily composed of various buildings. Even if their planar combinations, forms, lines, and colors differ, the streetscape remains just "frozen music." Street greening, including street trees, street green spaces, and protective green belts, integrated as a whole, not only enriches the streetscape but also transforms the entire city's landscape, making it resemble a garden.
In summary, plant landscape design creates a comprehensive landscape of mountains and plants, buildings and plants, and streets and plants. The latter half of this book is dedicated to discussing these comprehensive landscapes.
Regarding the integration of water bodies and plants in landscape design, the book discusses plant landscapes in lakes, ponds, streams, gullies, springs, embankments, islands, watersides, and water surfaces. On the topic of artistic composition, the use of plant species is vividly described with examples from famous gardens in renowned cities.
The book also addresses the integration of buildings and plants in landscape design, emphasizing that the combination of buildings and plants should complement and enhance each other, harmonizing in form, volume, and color. It also provides specific details on plant planting and landscape design techniques for doors, windows, walls, and corners of buildings. Currently, rooftop gardens are only found in a few public buildings and some hotels and inns in China. The book briefly outlines the planting of plants in rooftop gardens.