How to configure landscape flowers? See the approach taken on the Liupeng Route in Shangshu Township, Anji

On the Liupeng Route in Shangshu Township, Anji County, the area has abundant rainfall and four distinct seasons. The green belts on both sides of the road are wide and open, with fairly good green vegetation. This study takes the application of landscape flowers on the Liupeng Route as an example, planting landscape flowers on both sides of the road and carrying out reasonable landscaping to enhance the road landscape effect, so as to achieve an upgrade from greening to colorization.

1 Materials and methods

1.1 Materials

The flower types and varieties are shown in Table 1. The sowing period for the first season is set in mid-to-late March, using summer-type varieties; the sowing period for the second season is mid-to-late July, using autumn-type varieties; the sowing period for the third season is mid-to-late October, using spring-type varieties. In this study, the spring, summer and autumn types of flowers are classified according to planning needs, that is, those that can bloom normally during that time period are grouped into one category.

1.2 Landscape flower configuration on the Liupeng Route

The green belts on both sides of the road are wide, and the road is long, regular and open, with a superior geographical location. It is intended to create a multi-variety, large-color-block landscape effect, which is quite suitable for flower border application. The landscape flower variety configuration takes 1a as 1 cycle, with 3 sowing seasons: the first season's summer type blooms in June-July, the second season's autumn type blooms in September-November, and the third season's spring type blooms in the spring of the following year; landscape flower varieties are required to have a long flowering period and bright colors, highlighting large and colorful flowers with strong visual impact.

1.2.1 Flower borders in the green belt of the main line

Taking 50m as one section (with slight changes according to the actual road conditions), referring to "Flower Borders", the sowing order of summer-type varieties in the first season: dwarf zinnia - dwarf marigold - impatiens - sulfur cosmos - dwarf cosmos; autumn-type varieties in the second season: tall zinnia - sulfur cosmos - cockscomb - verbena; spring-type varieties in the third season: gaillardia - black-eyed Susan - large-flowered coreopsis - February orchid.

1.2.2 Road node flower beds

Referring to "Garden Color Palette", first season varieties: tall spider flower is selected on the inner side; medium-stem zinnia in the middle layer, and impatiens on the outer side; second season varieties: verbena on the inner side (planted after seedling raising); medium-stem zinnia in the middle layer, and dwarf marigold on the outer side; third season varieties: verbena on the inner side; February orchid in the middle layer, and double-flowered coreopsis on the outer side.

1.2.3 Flower boxes along the streets and routes of the road, and along the streets and routes of courtyards, are suitable for dwarf varieties.

For the first season, choose scutellaria and cockscomb; for the second season, choose dwarf marigold, dwarf salvia and dwarf marigold; for the third season, choose maiden pink, American pink and calendula. Courtyards mainly use tall varieties. The main varieties are dahlia in the first season; tall cosmos in the second season; and hollyhock, delphinium and larkspur in the third season.

1.2.4 Flower mirror in the homestead block

This block is contiguous, is reclaimed land, and the land is poor, with many stones and relatively compacted soil. Because the area is wide and contiguous, it is quite suitable for making a theme garden and creating a large flower mirror atmosphere, so 3 perennial varieties were selected: large-flowered coreopsis, gaillardia and verbena (seedlings). Considering that verbena needs seedling raising and the seedling raising cycle is relatively long, sunflowers and tall cosmos were planted during the seedling raising period (late March in spring). By the time the verbena seedlings were ready to be planted (June-July), the sunflowers and tall cosmos had already passed their full flowering period; large-flowered coreopsis and gaillardia are autumn-sown varieties, and their previous crop was tall spider flower (sown in late March in spring). In early October, the tall spider flower had already passed its full flowering period, and after tidying up, large-flowered coreopsis and gaillardia were sown.

Table 1 Landscape flower types and varieties on the Liupeng Route

2 Landscape effect

After sowing, landscape flowers emerge in about 1 week, can cover all the soil in about 1 month, and have a certain ornamental value. They bloom in 60-90d, with a flowering period of 3-6 months, a full flowering period of 1-2 months, and for individual varieties, an ornamental flowering period of 3-5 months. The growth performance and landscape effect analysis of different landscape flower varieties are shown in Tables 2-4 and Figures 1-2.

Table 2 Landscaping effect of first-season landscape flowers on the main line, along the streets and routes, flower boxes, courtyards and homestead blocks of the Liupeng Route

Note: Sowing time is late March; tall cosmos, sunflower and dahlia are planted in the homestead block; scutellaria and cockscomb are planted along the streets and routes.

Table 3 Landscaping effect of second-season landscape flowers on the main line, along the streets and routes, flower boxes, courtyards and homestead blocks of the Liupeng Route

Note: Sowing and seedling raising are in late July; tall cosmos is planted in courtyards; verbena is planted in the homestead block and grown from seedlings; dwarf marigold, dwarf salvia and dwarf marigold are all planted along the streets and routes.

Table 4 Landscaping effect of third-season landscape flowers on the main line, along the streets and routes, flower boxes, courtyards and homestead blocks of the Liupeng Route

Note: Sowing and seedling raising are in late October; verbena and large-flowered coreopsis are planted in the homestead block, and verbena is grown from seedlings; hollyhock, delphinium and larkspur are planted in courtyards; calendula, maiden pink and American pink are planted along the streets and routes.

3 Conclusion

Through trial planting on the Liupeng Route, all landscape flower varieties were able to bloom normally and showed good environmental adaptability. Landscape flowers have been fully displayed in the construction of beautiful villages and have also achieved good landscape effects, but there are also some problems in practical application. Variety selection is key, and a full understanding of variety habits is needed. Management requirements are relatively fine, especially at the seedling stage. It is not possible to achieve a landscape in one planting with flowers in all four seasons, and sowing is needed every year. The landscaping design of the Liupeng Route can be applied to the construction of scenic areas with relatively strong seasonality and beautiful villages, and combined with targeted planning and design, ideal landscape effects can be achieved.