A Study on the Forms and Characteristics of Landscape Trees in Landscaping

College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China

AStudyontheFormsandCharacteristicsofLandscapeTreesinLandscaping

BingXIA*

College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, China

The landscape tree is an important part of landscape, with a strong visual effect. This paper elaborates and discusses the concept of landscape trees as well as the forms and characteristics of landscaping, and summarizes the rules and features of landscape trees in plant landscaping, in order to provide a reference for the landscape construction practice.

Landscape trees, Landscaping, Forms, Characteristics

1 Introduction

Urban ecological environment is an important part of city construction, and an important aspect to enhance the city’s image and urban core competitiveness. Building beautiful homes and cities good for habitation, and creating forest eco-city, is the city managers’ major responsibility, in line with the socio-economic development and people’s expectation of garden environment. With the comprehensive advance of China’s urbanization, science and technology progress and high-tech material application, domestic and foreign gardens absorb anything and everything uncritically, landscape shows some new forms and styles, and the quality of landscape has been generally improved. The garden plant landscaping plays a very important role, and attracts more and more people’s attention. The application of landscape trees is a way to upgrade landscape in recent years. This exquisite "miniature gardening" was often seen in some classical gardens and famous temples in the past. After the introduction of modern landscape construction idea, it offers a pleasant change of atmosphere and enhances the landscape effect. This paper will explore the forms and characteristics of landscape trees in garden landscaping.

2 Concept of landscape trees

With certain types of full-grown trees as the materials, landscaping of landscape trees is to use the tree bonsai method and take the old trees or trees in strange shape as chief sources, to carry out artistic processing and shaping on them in accordance with the characteristics of each tree, by introducing the author’s artistic ideas and adopting some technical means such as trimming, hanging and supporting, combined with cultivation management. It is a process of creating big trees in beautiful and strange shapes. Landscape tree can be described as a "tree bonsai" planted in the ground. It has a certain artistic value and high commodity value.

3 The application forms and characteristics of landscape trees in plant landscaping

Landscape trees fall within the category of modeling plants, but unlike the spherical, cylindrical and compact green topiary and other forms of geometric shape plant modeling. Their modeling is clear and neat, and the shaping technology is relatively simple. On the basis of common trees, landscape trees are blended with art factors to produce the bonsai effect with artistic conception, so they appear in the garden plant landscaping in the form of accent plants or focal points. It takes the isolated planting or combination planting approach, and adds the touch that brings a work of art to life in landscape.

3.1BasiclandscapingformoflandscapetreesBonsai sketch style landscaping is the most basic application form of landscape trees in garden plant landscaping. It means that in a part, a point or a corner of garden landscape, with the earth as pot, combined with the surrounding environment, the modeling trees, rocks, terrain, pavilions, flowers and plants are used to create a poetic garden scene full of life. In the landscaping for formal garden, hybrid or natural landscape, flower beds, flower belt, or natural undulating hills, the design takes it as the basic form or landscape unit. Any complex landscape is derived from this, and it remains essentially the same despite all apparent changes.

3.2LandscapetreesshouldmaketheformofthecreationconsistentwiththeoveralllandscapestyleinlandscapingIn terms of a single tree shaping, like the bonsai creation, it is necessary to employ art in accordance with the characteristics of the material and conduct modeling based on the features of the tree. Therefore, for the coniferous, deciduous or evergreen modeling trees, a variety of modeling forms are vivid, splendid and unique. Therefore, according to the different garden styles, it is necessary to choose the right tree species and modeling forms. For any form and type of modeling tree, there is a need to make careful design and rational layout. For example, in the central dividing strip of a city’s main roads and traffic greenway, it adopts the landscaping mode dominated by modeling trees, complemented by rocks and other flowering shrubs. By the small greenbelt and green island-style layout, it forms a beautiful picture full of natural taste, ablaze with greenbelt, flowers, shrubs, and modeling trees combined with rocks. The continuous arrangement in regular raised beds and the configuration of different shapes create a beautiful scene, blended harmoniously with the surrounding buildings and roads with the extension of the streets.

3.3Landscapetreeshavethedefinitivepropertyof"pot"and"scenery"inlandscapingThe landscaping of landscape trees is a part of the overall landscape, which not only meets the overall landscaping requirements, but also has the outstanding features. The landscape creation of modeling trees appears in the form of a landscape unit. With the earth as the pot, it has certain regional definitive property within a certain range. Any landscaping form is just the artistic display of natural landscape. So, to fully demonstrate a topic and carefully build a picture in an effective flat and three-dimensional space, we must use concentration, epitome and other artistic methods combined with some necessary technical means to create the vivid and picturesque three-dimensional landscape and give the joy of beauty.

3.4CharacteristicsoflandscapetreesandtheartisticconceptionexpressioncharacteristicsinplantlandscapingAll along, both Chinese classical garden and modern garden focus on the creation of artistic conception. Plant is the material for garden beauty, and it is the most flexible factor in landscape. There are differences in the shape, texture, color and aroma between the plants, and with the development of human society, certain cultural elements have been integrated into some plants, and become a symbol of some kind of national culture. Garden plants play an extremely important role in creation of garden theme and expression of artistic conception. When the landscape trees are used for garden project, they are generally the finished products after many years of modeling in nursery and other production bases, and "beautiful structural components" of landscape project. For each single tree, many years of topiary makes it have a lot of charm. Each plant can generate a separate view, and different modeling can produce all sorts of artistic conception. It can be luxuriant, natural, bold and elegant, or curvaceous and magnificent, or quaint and graceful, or clear-cut and neat. In terms of tree species, the pine is green, primitive, plain, strong and elegant, representing everlasting green and vigor; the plum has a gracefully slender figure, and blossoms defiantly, representing unyielding faith; the willow is tender and flexible, representing robustness and flexibility. The natural modeling is casual and chic, gathering the charm of nature, while the rule-based modeling focuses on carving with great care and precision. Appropriate landscaping of modeling trees is easy to form artistic conception and good picture effect. For example, planting a solitary robust and luxuriant banyan, Fraxinus hupehensi or podocarpus macrophyllus tree in an open meadow can create a scene of wilderness, ancient and towering tree and verdant canopy, which will give a visual impact and shock the soul. The combined landscaping of modeling trees and other garden elements is also easy to achieve a picturesque landscape effect. In classical garden, we often see the beautiful trees of various shapes arranged on the side of pavilions, mound, bridge or creek. All the elements are harmoniously blended together to build a beautiful picture.

4 Conclusions

After years of cultivation, the landscape trees have a beautiful shape and lots of glamour. If they are used for landscaping, it can achieve good results. In garden landscaping, only by fully understanding the cultural connotation of trees and grasping the characteristics of trees can we make correct choice and realize precise application. Of course, the landscaping of modeling trees is a part of plant landscaping. Both the shaping of a single plant and the landscaping of garden plants should follow the basic art rules and configuration principles. Only by focusing on the characteristics and flexible application can we create the ideal landscape.

December 10, 2015 Accepted: February 24, 2016

Supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education (14Q033); Social Science Fund Project of Yangtze University (2013csq009).

*Corresponding author. E-mail: xiabing751718@163.com