What are the application advantages of herbaceous perennials in landscaping?
What are the application advantages of herbaceous perennials in landscaping? The application advantages of herbaceous perennials in landscaping include: herbaceous perennials have a wide variety of species, are easy to propagate, and are simple and convenient to manage; herbaceous perennials have strong adaptability; herbaceous perennials have good group effects, and so on. The details will be explained below by the editor.
I. Herbaceous perennials have a wide variety of species
(1) At present, there are more than 200 cultivated varieties of herbaceous perennials, covering all kinds, such as those grown for flowers, those grown for foliage, those grown for fruit, and so on.
(2) Varieties of herbaceous perennials that bloom in spring and summer: Chinese peony (Paeonia lactiflora), iris, Chinese pink (Dianthus chinensis), etc.
(3) Varieties of herbaceous perennials that bloom in summer: canna, daylily (Hemerocallis), hollyhock, garden phlox, etc.
(4) Varieties of herbaceous perennials that bloom in autumn: hosta, New York aster, blazing star (Liatris), etc.
(5) Even within the same variety, herbaceous perennials come in different color ranges; for example, hollyhock flowers come in scarlet, deep red, pink, light purple, deep purple and other shades of varying depth.
II. Easy to propagate, simple and convenient to manage
(1) Herbaceous perennials are generally propagated by sowing, cuttings or root division; as long as the right planting season is chosen and the necessary scientific management methods are mastered, they can be grown successfully.
(2) Herbaceous perennials are often used for urban landscaping, but they need to be replaced every 1-2 years. Most bulbous flowers cannot overwinter in the open field in winter, whereas herbaceous perennials have relatively strong root systems, require extensive maintenance and management, save time and labor, live for many years, and do not need frequent replacement.
(3) Herbaceous perennials have relatively few pests and diseases; they only need necessary fertilization and watering according to seasonal changes to grow normally and bloom and bear fruit.
III. Herbaceous perennials have strong adaptability
Many herbaceous perennials have strong adaptability, such as tolerance to early [drought], cold, waterlogging, poor soil, salinity-alkalinity and calcareous soil.
IV. Herbaceous perennials have good group effects
When herbaceous perennials are planted as groups, in clumps, in broad masses, or reasonably combined with other flowers and plant materials, they can produce unexpected effects and have high ornamental value.
Application of herbaceous perennials in landscaping | Prospects and observations for the development of herbaceous perennials
Application of herbaceous perennials in landscaping | Prospects and observations for the development of herbaceous perennials--Herbaceous perennials have a long history of being cultivated as individual plants in China. However, the large-scale group application of herbaceous perennials in China is a matter of recent years. According to their growth characteristics and artistic requirements, specialized perennial gardens have been built in many places across the country, such as peony gardens, aquatic plant gardens, iris gardens, indoor gardens, etc. In terms of combining with buildings and roads, herbaceous perennials are used in flower beds, flower borders, flower pots, flower terraces, etc. Through the coordination and combination of herbaceous perennials with hard environments such as buildings and roads, buildings and roads are made more beautiful, and the environment is made more attractive. Weihai City has for many years attached importance to the introduction and cultivation of herbaceous perennials. Since 1999, nearly 20 kinds and more than 50 varieties have been introduced, including groundcover Chinese pink, false dragonhead, phlox, iris, purple loosestrife, yarrow, sedum, snapdragon, coreopsis, blanket flower, etc., which have been widely used in urban landscaping and achieved good results.However, compared with foreign countries, China is still far behind in the research and application of herbaceous perennials. In the past 20 years, developed countries have generally attached importance to the breeding of herbaceous perennials as well as research on group effects and on configuration methods in overall landscape planning and design. As a result, varieties and species have become increasingly rich, and application effects have become increasingly perfect, which can be fully reflected in some of the colorful herbaceous perennials from abroad in recent years.
I. Application of herbaceous perennials in landscaping
"Matching trees to the site" is a principle of greening, and the planting of herbaceous perennials should also follow the principle of "matching flowers to the site." Different types of green spaces have different requirements for herbaceous perennials because their nature and functions differ. Therefore, reasonable configuration should be based on the ecological habits of herbaceous perennials in order to display the best landscape effect.
1. Flower beds
Flower beds are generally set in the center, on both sides and around squares and roads, and are required to maintain bright colors and neat outlines at all times. Perennial bulbous flowers are excellent materials for mass-flowering flower beds, with brilliant colors and neat blooming. There are many herbaceous perennial materials that can be selected for mass-flowering flower beds, such as chrysanthemum, New York aster, black-eyed Susan, astilbe, coreopsis species, campanula species, etc.; some small chrysanthemum varieties, amaranth family plants such as small-leaf red and small-leaf black, and sedum species such as white stonecrop and other herbaceous perennials can be used to present exquisite patterns by simulated means.
2. Flower borders
The arrangement of various flowers in a flower border should be a natural patchy mixture, and consideration should also be given to the harmony and contrast of their colors, postures, forms and quantities within the same season. The design of a flower border should skillfully use color to create spatial or landscape effects. Herbaceous perennials are plants rich in color; with the appropriate selection of herbaceous perennials, the colors become even richer, and the characteristics of the flower border can be better brought into play. For example, placing a plant community dominated by cool colors at the rear of the flower border creates a visual sense of increased depth and width; in a narrow environment, using cool tones to compose a flower border gives a feeling of expanded space. In quiet rest areas, it is suitable to use more cool-toned flowers; if the aim is to increase a lively atmosphere of color, warm-toned flowers can be used.
Commonly used herbaceous perennials for flower borders include: iris, Chinese peony, daylily, hosta, columbine, bleeding heart, etc.
3. Rock gardens
Some low-growing, drought-tolerant, heat-tolerant and cold-tolerant types among herbaceous perennials, such as dwarf species of the genus Dianthus like alpine pink and Dianthus pavonius, the genus Achillea, and dwarf species of Gentianaceae, Crassulaceae, Violaceae, Rosaceae, Saxifragaceae, etc., can all be used as materials for rock gardens.
4. Lawns
Some species among herbaceous perennials, such as daylily, iris and torch lily, can be mixed with lawn grass and used as edging around lawns, or herbaceous perennials can be dotted in lawns according to flowering period.
5. Ground cover
Herbaceous perennials such as iris species, coreopsis species, bleeding heart species, hosta species, daylily species and sedum species can all be used as ground cover to cover bare ground; some of these species can also self-sow and multiply, such as coreopsis species, which often spread in broad masses.
6. Water body greening
Aquatic iris species such as rabbit-ear iris, Iris lactea, Iris sanguinea, and Arundo species such as variegated giant reed and Taiwan giant reed, as well as maple mallow species, can all be planted at the water's edge to enrich the variation of waterscapes.
7. Foundation planting
Planting herbaceous perennials on the narrow strip formed between buildings and roads can enrich building facades, beautify the surrounding environment, and also regulate the view from indoors. Planting herbaceous perennials at wall bases can buffer the harsh color transition between the wall base, wall corners and the ground; on single-color wall bases, herbaceous perennials can be planted so that the wall surface has an effect like painting on paper.
8. Garden path edging
Sedum species such as white stonecrop and stringy stonecrop, and herbaceous perennials such as dwarf Chinese pink, cushion phlox and spiderwort, can all be used for garden path edging, serving to increase the path's landscape value while also protecting the roadbed and preventing soil erosion.
II. Points to note
1. The cultivation of herbaceous perennials should be based on their ecological habits, matching flowers to the site. For example, early small chrysanthemums are afraid of waterlogging and should be planted in high-lying places; hollyhock should be planted in places with good ventilation; New York aster can be planted in poor soil; coreopsis should be planted directly in sunny places; hosta should be planted in shaded places, etc.
2. The arrangement of herbaceous perennials should be coordinated and unified with the overall layout and theme of the design. When configuring several kinds of flowers, color combinations should be considered to form a sense of rhythm. Avoid disorder and lack of pattern, which would affect the landscape effect.
3. In large green spaces, parks and small gardens in urban streets, the types and varieties of herbaceous perennials used still need to be enriched, and the matching of their flowering periods, colors and plant heights still needs to be improved in order to create better landscape views.
4. The selection, development and utilization of herbaceous perennial species should have local characteristics. The flora of the Kunyu Mountain area is rich in herbaceous perennial resources, with a wide variety of species, about 300 kinds, many of which are rare or endemic plants of Shandong Province. They can be regarded as symbols of the area, such as Shandong anemone, purple lady's slipper, Clematis florida, and cat's ear. In the selection, development and utilization of herbaceous perennial species, the principle of basing oneself on local species and appropriately introducing foreign species should be followed. The Weihai area can make use of its resource advantages to build a coastal scenic landscape with northern characteristics.
5. In species selection and breeding, the diversity of varieties should be increased, and introduction, domestication and cultivation should be carried out to meet the needs of urban greening and beautification. For example, daylily, Chinese pink, New York aster, hosta, sedum, iris, Chinese peony, etc., have rich colors and can form a complete flower color system; they should be reasonably configured according to plant habits and site characteristics, simulating and reproducing artificial plant communities of natural landscapes, and fully embodying the local characteristics of urban landscaping.
III. Prospects and observations for the development of herbaceous perennials
Herbaceous perennials are colorful and bright, fragrant and pleasant, pleasing to the eye, and can also cultivate character and improve health. Compared with lawns, herbaceous perennials have advantages such as a wide variety of species, strong adaptability, easy cultivation, low maintenance cost and quick results, strong group functions and great ecological benefits, with broad application prospects. At the same time, in recent years, with Weihai City as the center, an upsurge of creating a group of national garden cities has arisen across the Jiaodong region, and the demand for greening materials such as flowers has surged, with promising market capacity. Opening up and invigorating the economy and attracting investment require not only a relaxed soft policy environment, but also a beautiful hard environment for work and life, requiring the surrounding large living space environment to endow natural beauty. All of this provides a good opportunity for the development of herbaceous perennials, and developing the herbaceous perennial industry is imperative.
Application of herbaceous perennials
With the acceleration of China's urbanization process and the improvement of industrialization, the negative impact on the environment has become increasingly prominent, and people have gradually turned the theories of "ecological gardens" and "learning from nature" into practice. In plant communities imitating the original ecology, herbaceous perennials, with their many advantages such as many varieties, large quantities, easy cultivation and rapid formation, have been widely used in landscape construction projects and have achieved good social, economic and ecological benefits.1 Characteristics of herbaceous perennials
1.1 The concept of herbaceous perennials
Herbaceous perennials, also called perennial herbaceous flowers, refer to ornamental plants whose life can continue for many years, including evergreen flowers whose underground organ forms have not metamorphosed into bulbs or tubers, and those whose aboveground parts wither after flowering while retaining underground buds and roots that overwinter and oversummer and then bloom again.
1.2 Characteristics of herbaceous perennials
There are many kinds of herbaceous perennials, many of which are varieties with high ornamental value in gardens. Because of many years of horticultural cultivation, these plants tend to gradually degenerate in their sexual reproduction function; stamens and pistils partially transform into petals, often forming beautiful double flowers. Herbaceous perennials have small individuals, many varieties, brilliant flower colors and fast growth, making up for the shortcomings of trees (shrubs) growing slowly, large lower spaces, monotonous lawn landscapes and high maintenance costs. They can achieve good ornamental effects in a short period and reduce the cost of creating landscape views. With the acceleration of ecological garden construction and the application of the theory of imitating original ecological plant communities in urban landscape construction, herbaceous perennials are receiving more and more attention. The characteristics of herbaceous perennials can be summarized as follows.
1.2.1 They have underground parts that survive for many years. Most species have main roots of varying thickness, and lateral roots can survive for many years; new aboveground parts that flower and set seed are formed each year from buds at the root crown. In some species, the underground part can survive for many years and continues to extend horizontally to form rhizomes; fibrous roots and buds are borne on the rhizomes, and each year new buds form aboveground parts that flower and set seed.
1.2.2 Cold-tolerant and semi-cold-tolerant herbaceous perennials native to temperate zones have dormancy characteristics. Their dormant organs, buds or rosette branches, need low winter temperatures to break dormancy and sprout and grow in the following spring. Dormant organ formation is usually induced by cool temperatures and short-day conditions in autumn. Species that bloom in spring bloom under long-day conditions after overwintering; species that bloom in summer need short-day conditions to bloom or are promoted to bloom by short-day conditions; evergreen herbaceous perennials can usually bloom year-round as long as the temperature is suitable.
1.2.3 Most herbaceous perennials can be propagated by sowing, but the most commonly used method is division propagation. Offshoots, stem tillers and root suckers are used for division, and some species can also be propagated by leaf-bud cuttings; all of these help increase the propagation coefficient of superior varieties and maintain their superior characteristics.
1.2.4 Being planted once and enjoyed for many years, simplifying planting procedures, is the main advantage of herbaceous perennials being widely used in garden flower beds, flower landscapes, hedges and ground cover.
1.2.5 After being planted once, they grow for many years, and the plants continuously expand their occupied area in place. Therefore, suitable space should be reserved at planting time.
2 Application of herbaceous perennials in landscaping
Herbaceous perennials are extremely widely used in landscaping, commonly in flower beds, flower landscapes, flower paths, hedges, ground cover, etc. The following survey, analysis and compilation of the application of herbaceous perennials in the landscape construction of Xiangfan City can reflect the current situation of the application of herbaceous perennials in landscape construction in northwestern Hubei and even Hubei Province. (Appendix: List of common herbaceous perennials in northwestern Hubei)
2.1 City squares and street pocket parks
Herbaceous perennials are essential plants for decorating city squares. City squares are centers for exhibitions, performances and gatherings held by the government or enterprises and for citizens' fitness and leisure, with the characteristics of grand scenes and large pedestrian flow. Herbaceous perennials can be organically combined with tree and shrub greening; taller herbaceous perennials can be selected and planted in masses by variety, such as chrysanthemum, yucca, daylily and iris, while attention should be paid to staggering flowering periods so as to form flower borders with flowers in multiple seasons.
2.2 City parks
Herbaceous perennials are ideal plants for city park scenery. City parks are places for citizens and tourists to visit, exercise and rest. Several major parks in Xiangfan City, such as Gulongzhong, Yangchunmen and Yueliangwan, all have landscapes that make good use of herbaceous perennials. The main cultivated varieties include iris, Chinese peony, red woodsorrel, dwarf lilyturf, Ophiopogon japonicus, Japanese sacred lily, chrysanthemum, and amaryllis. For example, the famous peony and Chinese peony specialty garden in the Gulongzhong Scenic Area sets off and contrasts with the water lily pond, rose garden and tulip garden of Laolong Cave; dwarf lilyturf, iris, etc., combined with trees and shrubs, form herbaceous perennial plant communities with the form of natural plant communities and natural wild charm. Being there, one seems to return at once to the embrace of nature, which is refreshing and delightful. Another example is Yangchunmen Park after reconstruction: along the strip of land about ten-plus meters wide and about one thousand-plus meters long between the Xiangyang city moat and the ancient city wall of Xiangyang, with dwarf lilyturf as the base and interspersed with Japanese sacred lily, iris, variegated star jasmine and other trees and shrubs in continuous stretches, every step offers a different view, fascinating visitors.
2.3 Landscape avenues and traffic nodes
Herbaceous perennials are the main plants of urban landscape avenues. In the eyes of drivers and passengers, landscape avenues and traffic nodes are a constantly moving scenic line. The main varieties of herbaceous perennials used include Japanese sacred lily, dwarf lilyturf and yucca. Chunyuan East Road in Xiangfan City is the main passage connecting the urban area to the Xiangfan Dongfeng Motor base; it forms a base of Japanese sacred lily, matched with Photinia × fraseri, Chinese fringeflower, firethorn and other shrubs grown for foliage, flowers and fruit, as well as other large trees. Driving along it gives a feeling of continuous winding scenery with highlights constantly appearing. At the traffic safety island on Changhong South Road, yucca is arranged around the landscape stone in the middle, which is both full of vitality and does not block drivers' sight lines. Dengcheng Avenue, more than ten kilometers long, also uses sisal, yucca and other herbaceous perennials, either planted in masses or used with landscape stones, beautiful and appropriate, natural.
2.4 Courtyard greening of work units
Herbaceous perennials are preferred plants for beautifying and adding fragrance to unit courtyards. Unit courtyard greening generally has a small area and buildings, and must simultaneously meet the requirements of ventilation, lighting and visibility, so the amount of trees and shrubs used is subject to certain restrictions. Herbaceous perennials can make up for shortcomings such as single varieties and lack of color caused by the shortage of trees and shrubs. Commonly, red woodsorrel is combined with autumn zephyrlily, iris with canna, and Japanese sacred lily with Chinese pink, either planted in masses to form a base color, in clumps to form flower borders, along paths to form flower paths, or at corners or edges, with flowering shrubs appropriately added and flowering periods and colors reasonably adjusted, so that the courtyard is full of flowers in all four seasons, warm and pleasant.
3 Principles to follow in applying herbaceous perennials
Herbaceous perennials have many varieties, are easy to cultivate, have good group effects, differ in ecological habits, have low planting costs, good environmental effects and broad application prospects, and are ideal materials for building gardens. However, when applying herbaceous perennials, they should be reasonably configured according to their biological and ecological characteristics, matching flowers to the site, so as to create beautiful scenery with distinct seasonal aspects and brilliant colors.
3.1 Ecological principles
According to ecological characteristics, herbaceous perennials can be divided in landscape application into sun-loving, shade-tolerant and water-loving types.
3.1.1 Sun-loving herbaceous perennials are suitable for open areas and roadsides, planted in masses or clumps as ground cover, flower borders and flower paths. The main varieties include red woodsorrel,golden creeping loosestrife, purple woodsorrel, daylily, dwarf lilyturf, iris, sisal and Chinese peony, etc.
3.1.2 Shade-tolerant herbaceous perennials are suitable for planting under forests, on the back sides of buildings, in courtyards and other places dominated by scattered light, and can form a greening space below trees and shrubs and above lawns (ground cover). The main varieties include dwarf lilyturf, Japanese sacred lily, violet and hosta, etc.
3.1.3 Water-loving herbaceous perennials are suitable for planting beside ponds, at the edges of water bodies, beside rockeries (placed stones) and in other waterlogged environments, and can form plant landscapes that screen mountains and water. The main varieties include wild rice stem, butterfly flower and iris plants, etc.
3.2 Principle of coordination with the environment
The planting of herbaceous perennials should be coordinated with the surrounding environmental conditions, and the following factors should be considered.
3.2.1 On the premise of respecting the planning and design, plant configuration should satisfy its use functions. For example, for large green spaces arranged in squares and parks, daylily, hollyhock, iris, yucca and purple woodsorrel can be selected for mass planting to form color blocks and, together with other flowering shrubs in groups, to enhance the grand and lively atmosphere of the square; for street-center gardens, road median strips and traffic islands, when configuring herbaceous perennials, long-flowering and short-statured red woodsorrel should be used with autumn zephyrlily, purple heart, golden creeping loosestrife, etc., to meet the requirements of clear sight lines for drivers and pedestrians and ensure safety.
3.2.2 In plant configuration, consideration should be given to forming stable plant communities. Only with stable plant communities can the long-term effectiveness of the plant landscape be guaranteed. For example, for large-area mass planting of herbaceous perennials, sun-loving types must be used; under forests, around corridors and on the shady sides of buildings, shade-loving herbaceous perennials should be used; beside water and canals, water-loving herbaceous perennials should be used. After being configured with trees and shrubs, they form stable upper, middle, lower and ground-cover plant spatial utilization relationships and plant symbiotic relationships.
3.2.3 In plant configuration, trees, shrubs and grasses should be reasonably matched. Some herbaceous perennials wither in winter and go dormant in summer, affecting the overall landscape effect. Selecting suitable trees, shrubs and lawns to match with them can make up for the shortcomings of herbaceous perennials.