Some important plants are discussed here based on nature of growth, based on growth behaviour, etc.:- 1. Annuals 2. Biennials 3. Perennials 4. Shrubs 5. Ornamental Trees 6. Climbers and Creepers 7. Cacti and Succulents 8. Bulbous Plants 9. Bonsai.
1. Annuals:
Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one season or one year, e.g., Balsam and Cosmos, etc.
Annuals are a group of plants, which attain their full growth from seed, flower and die in one year or one season. Mostly they complete their life cycle in 3-6 months. They comprise of several of the most beautiful and easily grown plants widely varying in form, habit of growth and colour.
Annuals are classified into rainy season annuals, cool season or winter annuals and warm weather annuals.
i. Flower beds of simple design can be laid out on the outskirts of lawn, along the base of buildings, in the path leading to entrance of houses and on sides of footsteps.
ii. Some annuals are useful for edging, e.g., Dwarf marigold, Alyssum and Candytuft.
iii. Some annuals are useful in hanging baskets, e.g., Petunia, Verbena and Alyssum.
iv. Some climbing annuals are useful to cover trellis work, e.g., Tall Nasturtium, Cobaea scandens.
2. Biennials:
Biennials are plants which grow in one season, flower, fruit and die in the next season. Generally, the period of growth is 6-9 months. Biennials are grown in the same way as annual and can be used similarly, e.g., biennials are Canterbury bulb, Gladiolus, etc.
Plants which require two years to complete their life cycle. First season growth results in a small rosette of leaves near the soil surface.
Biennial are plants whose life cycle spans two years, so they flower and produce seeds in their second years. A familiar biennial is foxglove, Digitalis Purpurea. Some plants grown as biennials are, botanically speaking, short-lived perennials, e.g., sweet, william and wallflower. These plants tend to be dug up after flowering simply because they don’t perform well the following year or become too unidy.
3. Perennials:
Perennials are those plants with soft succulent stems (as compared to shrubs which have woody stems). They are useful as herbaceous or mixed borders or for pot culture.
The following are the examples for herbaceous perennials:
(i) Chrysanthemum – Flowers are single or double available in attractive colours. Perennial species include C. frulescens and C. maximum.
(ii) Solidago – Popularly known as ‘golden rods’ producing erect feathery rod-like trusses crowded with pretty golden yellow flowers. They are suitable for mass planting in beds and borders in and adjoining lawn.
(iii) Gerbera – Stemless perennial herbs with radical stalked leaves, flower heads are solitary, large and sterile with varying colours. Propagation by division of clumps or from seed.
(iv) Gazania Splendens – Perennial plant about 20 cm high, with pointed leaves with silver and bearing beautiful daisy like flowers, in yellow orange shades; useful in beds, borders for edging and carpet bedding and on rockeries, propagated by seed or suckers.
(v) Perstemon – It has a large erect spikes of tubular, open-mouthed, gloxinia like flowers, which are available in several shades of colours, a good bedding plant, propagated by seeds, cuttings or division.
(vi) Pelargoniums – It is commonly known as geraniums, a popular herbaceous perennial pot plants grown for the beauty of their flowers which are borne in large trusses propagated by cuttings or from seed.
4. Shrubs:
Shrubs are plants with woody stems which are smaller than trees, but bigger than herbaceous plants. A typical shrub will have several stems arising from the main stem at ground level itself. They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Some are attractive in their foliage, some produce attractive flowers and some are grown for their attractive berries.
A stretch of shrubs are established as borders on the sides of walks and paths. Shrubs are planted at the corners of lawn in a curving line.
A shrubbery is an area planted with different kinds of shrubs and a shrub border is one where only one kind of shrub is used. Shrubs that stand frequent pruning and trimming can be used for topiary work. Tall growing shrubs can be used to screen the disagreeable object and backyard. Handsome shrubs can make attractive pot plants for indoor and outdoor decoration.
Shrubs can prevent architectural features like glass doors and windows from conducting heat thereby keeping the overall temperature of the interiors down. On an average a landscaped house can save at least 40% on energy bills as compared to a house that lacks this feature.
Importance of Shrubs in Garden:
(i) Being permanent, they form part of the frame work of the garden.
(ii) They form the chief features of landscape gardening placed in front of tall trees and joining the spacious lawn, etc.
(iii) Shrubs which are amenable for frequent training are chosen for topiary work.
(iv) Tall growing shrubs often serve as screen.
(v) They are useful as a single specimen in the lawn.
(vi) They can be trained to form standards, i.e., trained to single stem and allowed to branch out and form a handsome head only above a particular height, e.g., Bougainvillea, Ixora, Murrya exotica.
(i) Flowering Shrubs – Gurhal, Bougainvillea, Ixora, Chandni, Nerium indicum, Hibiscus mutabilis, etc.
(ii) Foliage – Acalypha, Codium variegata, Manihot, etc.
(iii) Flowers and Foliage – Bougainvillea, Buddleia, Hamelia, etc.
(iv) Fragrant Flowers – Raat ki Rani, Din ka Raja, Jasmine, Murraya paniculata, etc.
Hedges:
For several reasons a garden should be enclosed by a good hedge or fence. It provides protection from cattle, shelter from wind and privacy. The best plant material for forming such a hedge would be a quick growing hardy shrub with attractive foliage and handsome flowers, drought resistant and should stand trimming to shape and capable of being quickly and easily raised from seed or from cuttings to fill up the gaps promptly.
Decorative internal hedges are formed of small-growing shrubs or under shrubs which have handsome foliage and bear in some cases handsome flowers as well.
The usual height for an ornamental internal hedge varies from 30-65 cm. Its objective is to seemingly divide the garden into a number of parts, each part containing the distinctive feature of its own as a rosary or flower bed or collections of bulbs etc. As the boundary or the screen or the ornamental hedges are meant to be permanent features of a garden, proper care should be exercised in planting them. Trenches of 30-40 cm wide and 40-45 cm deep should be dug and refilled with top soil, farmyard manure and red Earth.
Hedges are planted either with the seed or cuttings in the rainy season. Shoots should be tipped as they grow to induce them to branch out and side shoots should be cut back to the desired dimensions. A compact and a thick hedge is possible if it is trimmed as often as necessary, cutting back the overgrowing shoots strictly to the desired dimensions.
1. Plants Suitable for Ornamental Internal Hedges:
i. Acalypha sp.
ii. Barleria sp.
iii. Bougainvillea sp.
iv. Cupressus macrocarpa
v. Duranta Plumiera
vi. Hamelia patens
vii. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
viii. Lantana camera
ix. Malpighia coccigera
x. Meyenia erecta
2. Plants Suitable for Boundary or Tall Hedges:
i. Acacia farnesiana
ii. Acalypha
iii. Agave americana
iv. Aralia
v. Bougainvillea
vi. Caesalpinia plcherrima
vii. Casuarina equisetifolia
viii. Carissa carandas
ix. Pithecolobium dulse
x. Punica granatum
xi. Tecoma stans
x. Thevetia nereifolia
Edges are plants which are employed in gardens for dividing beds, borders, roads, walks or path of demarcating spaces allotted for particular purpose, as flower beds. Mechanical edging made of bricks or rough or irregular stones embedded in the ground are also often used in gardens.
Foliage Plants Suitable for Edging:
i. Alternanthera
ii. Coleus sp.
iii. Eupatorium cannabinus
iv. Iresine sp.
v. Santolina chamaecyparissus
Flowering Plants Suitable for Edging:
i. Alyssum
ii. Amaryllis
iii. Gerbera
iv. Lobelia
v. Gazania splendens
Edging plants are of dwarf growing in habit with handsome foliage and are amenable for regular trimming. The edging plants should be perennial, hardy, easily propagated and should have lasting foliage or flower or both. The height of an edge should be about 15-20 cm. Constant trimming is necessary to maintain proper shape and height.
5. Ornamental Trees:
Trees form the main framework of the garden. Some trees produce attractive and beautiful flowers including fragrant flowers, few trees are noted for their attractive foliage and few more trees are known for their peculiar shape or form which are used as specimen trees. Shady trees are planted in chosen spots of large public garden which provides place for picnic and relaxation.
Such trees are also planted along the borders of roads as avenue for giving shade. In selecting ornamental trees, the purpose should be decided first and then the place of its culture should be finalised.
Tree is a perennial plant having distinct trunk crown at the top. Trees have immense beauty from aesthetic view point. They bring the change in sky line on account of variation in their height, shapes, foliage texture and flower colour. They are used in landscape plan for aesthetic and functional purposes.
Trees are used in garden as specimen, avenue plantation, wind breaks and screening. Landscaping the backyard with trees and other plants can help to minimise the bad effects of pollution. In addition to purifying the air, plants can help disperse fog, reduce wind speeds, reduce noise effects, control erosion and influence snow deposition.
A judicious planting of trees enhances the beauty of surroundings. Deciduous trees used in landscaping help in cooling down your property in summer. They also help in warming it up during winter months by allowing the sun to shine through. As the trees are the frame work of the garden they should be easy growing, hardy and requiring little attention.
Woody plants like trees are the backbone of a landscape. Trees provide skyline to the landscape, background for highlighting architecture, screening of less pleasing sights, as roadside avenues, as screens for privacy from roads and flats opposite.
One of the places wherein trees can be extensively planted is on the roadside which is known as avenue planting. This has two aspects namely beauty and utility and both these aspects can be combined by careful planning and judicious selection of the right tree species.
Roadside plantations help in noise abatement. To reduce the noise generated by high speed traffic on national highways to tolerable limits, about 20-30 m wide belts of trees and shrubs may be necessary. To reduce the noise generated by moderate speed traffic in the cities, 7-15 m wide belts of trees and shrubs may be required.
Evergreen trees are better for noise abatement than deciduous trees which do not afford a barrier to sound when leafless. Recently, planting in strips along railway lines are also becoming popular.
The main objectives are stabilisation of railway track and protection of railway track against erosion and checking of the shifting sand in desert areas getting on to the railway track. From the point of view of the safety of the railway traffic, the first row of trees should not be planted very close to the railway track.
6. Climbers and Creepers:
Climbers are the group of plants which have weak stems and ability to climb up the support with the help of modified organs for sunlight and air. Creepers on the other hand literally creep along the soil surface and spread over a long distance, creeper is a prostrate or trailing plant that spread by means of stems that creep.
Climbers and creepers are starkly different, former one climbing some strong hold to reach heights sufficient for getting sunlight, while creepers spread on Earth surface in a horizontal manner and form sort of forest mat. Also climbers have different anatomy of their stem for twining around a support called as liana autonomy.
Both climbers and creepers have weak stems. Climbers grows in upward direction with the help of some support to get maximum sunlight while creeper grows in horizontal direction along the soil surface.
Botanically, plants which have the special structure to climb on supports are defined as climbers. Climbers are very important ornamental plants and are commonly used on walls, arches and pergolas, but in cities their utility is increased for the purpose of screening the premises from adjacent houses and maintaining privacy. Bare walls can be most effectively decorated by growing colourful climbers.
Climbers are defined as a plant which possesses special structures to climb over a support. These special structures may be hook-like thorns. Creepers are those plants which are unable to climb vertically on their own because of their weak stems.
Climbers and creepers are important group of plants which add beauty, colour in striking way of fragrance in gardens and artificial structures like wall, arches, pergola, pillars; cascades, topiary, etc., are well decorated with the help of climbers. They attach themselves to supports by their rootlets, hooks, tendrils or by the stem and leaves. Most climbers are perennials but there are a few annuals which can be grown in pots or in hanging baskets or in low trellises, e.g., Ipomoea, Thunbergia and Clitoria.
Climbers are propagated by layers and cuttings. Proper training is essential for climbers to be at their best. Climbers which are to be trained over screens and trellises should be induced from the base of the plant to cover them completely. This is achieved by pinching off the terminal bud to induce lateral branching when they are about 30-40 cm high. In the case of climbers over arches, pergolas and trees one or two leader shoots may be trained to the top to branch out.
i. For Sunny Situation – Quisqualis indica, Antigonon leptopus, Bougamvillea sp, etc.
ii. For Partial Shade – Lonicera japonica, Clerodendrom splendens, Petrea volubilis, etc.
iii. Heavy climbers – Antigonon leptopus, Quisqualis indica, Wisteria sinensis, Clerodendron splendens, Hieptage bengalensis, etc.
iv. Light Climbers – Lonicera japonica, Clitoria ternatia, Trachelospermum jasmenoides.
v. Climbers for Fragrant Flowers – Jasminum grandiflorum, J. officinale, Hiptage benghalensis, etc.
vi. Pot Climbers – Clitoria ternatea and Bougainvillea.
vii. Making Hedge – Clerodendron inerme, Bougainvillea.
viii. For Indoor Decoration – Pothos, Asparagus sp., Philodendron spp., Monstera deliciosa, etc.
ix. Annual climbers – Ipomoea lobata, sweet pea, Clitoria ternatea.
(i) Some climbers are grown in gardens for their attractive foliage, e.g., Asparagus spregeri, Ficus repens, Hedera helix, Scindapsus aureus.
(ii) Some light climbers can be trained as ‘screens’ in gardens, e.g., Bignonia venusta, Jacquemontia violaceae, Passiflora edulis.
(iii) Climbers like Allamanda, Antigonon, Aristolochia elegans, Solanum seaforthianum can be used on arches, bowers and pergolas.
(iv) Heavy climbers like Bougainvillea, Scindapsus, Petrea volubilis can be trained over strong pergolas or on trees which look very attractive.
7. Cacti and Succulents:
These are group of plants which have special structures to store water in thick fleshy leaves or stems. Their leaves are fleshy with plenty of water-holding tissues, often reduced in size, covered with a thick epidermis with only a few stomata and are often coated with a whitish or blue wax or wooly hairs.
They thrive best in sunny situations and are light loving. They need little care except when actively growing. All the cacti are succulents on account of storing water, but all the succulents are not cacti. There is a clear cut distinction between both. Cactus is characterised by the presence of Areolas sp., which often looks like woolly cushions carrying spines, hairs and the flowers arise from or near the Areolas.
The spines in cactus are modified leaves which provide shade against scorching sun and help in conservation of moisture besides protecting against birds and beasts. All the cacti are succulents on account of slowing water, but all the succulents are not cacti. The cacti are one type of succulents which are exclusively belonging to the family ‘Cactaceae’.
They are perennials, bearing spine cushions called aeroles. Most of the cacti do not have leaves but the succulents have leaves. The cacti usually bloom annually and are beautiful and large.
Like any other plant, cacti can be raised from seeds but the process is very slow. Hence, the common practice is to grow them through vegetative buds. The container for cacti is filled with about 10 cm of gravel and above that a thin layer of sand is spread to provide drainage. The best soil mixture consists of sandy loam, little cow dung manure and some broken bricks. Watering by sprinkling should be done once or twice in a week. Repotting is necessary with fresh soil once in two or three years, usually in the same containers, since the plants grow very slowly.
Cactus and succulents are very popular amongst gardeners, amateurs and hobbyists who are used to adorn sunny situations of gardens, houses, window sides and rock gardens.
8. Bulbous Plants:
The term, ‘bulbous plants’ refers to all seasonal plants with underground modified stems containing stored food for the development of the seasonal aerial shoots of stems, leaves and flowers. The modified stems include bulbs, tubers, corms, rhizomes, etc.
Bulbous plants are grown for their flowers or foliage or both. There are a number of them, varying in habit of growth, form, colour, etc. They are characterised by three stages in their growth viz., the growing, the blooming and the resting periods.
Generally, the bulbous plants after bloom enter into rest period. At this time, the bulbs are taken out and placed them in moist sand. After 3-4 months, the dormant buds swell and push out the shoots. When sufficient growth is made, the bulbs may be planted.
All bulbous plants generally thrive at higher elevations, there are some kinds which do not thrive and bloom at medium elevations and many do not perform well at low elevations.
9. Bonsai:
‘Bonsai’ is a Japanese pronunciation of the earlier Chinese term penzai. A ‘bon’ is a tray-like pot typically used in bonsai culture. The word bonsai is often used in English as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots, but this article focuses on bonsai as defined in the Japanese tradition.
The bonsai differs from a pot plant where either the foliage or the flower is the main criterion, but here the artistic look of the plant in a miniature form maintained for many years is all that is wanted. The great Japanese expert on bonsai, kyozo morata is on record to have said, like a pet animal, it needs water, sunshine and nourishment.
(i) Upright or Chokkan style – In this style, a single specimen is grown with a straight and up right stem.
(ii) Winding or Kyokkuk Style – In this, a single trunk is twisted once or several times showing as if it has struggled for its existence in the wild.
(iii) Oblique or Shakan Style – This also referred to as windswept style. The plant is grown in an oblique position as if swept by wind and consequently sometimes having more branches on one side.
(iv) Garland or Hankan Style – This differs a little from the winding style. Here the trunk is twisted near the ground once or twice to from a knob or a loop.
(v) Cascade or Kengai style – Here the trunk hangs over the edge of the container as if it was hanging over the ledge of a mountain.
(vi) Ikadi-Buki style – A tree is often laid or trained horizontally and several branches are allowed to grow vertically at intervals resembling individual trees. Alternatively, 2 or 3 plants of the same kind may be planted in a single container. Another method is the clustered bonsai where several branches are allowed to grow from ground level in a clustered manner.
(vii) Clasped to stone style – A single tree is grown with its roots trained over a stone or some block of boiler ash. Plants grown in this way present the look of age and tenacity.
The formal upright style or Chokkan, is characterised by a straight, upright, tapering trunk. Branches progress regularly from the thickest and broadest at the bottom to the finest and shortest at the top, e.g., Bald cypress.
The trunk and branches of the informal upright style or Moyogi incorporate visible curves, but the apex of the informal upright is always located directly above the trunk’s entry into the soil line.
Similar to the formal upright style, branches generally progress regularly from largest at the bottom to smallest at the top, although this progression may be broken where the irregular shape of the trunk would make a branch abnormally prominent or obscure.
(i) Slant-Style or Shakan bonsai possess straight trunks like those of bonsai grown in the formal upright style. However, the slant style trunk emerges from the soil at an angle and the apex of the bonsai will be located to the left or right of the root base.
(ii) Cascade Style or Kengai bonsai are modeled after trees which grow over water or on the sides of mountains. The apex or tip of the tree in the Semi-cascade-style or Han Kengai, bonsai extend just at or beneath the lip of the bonsai pot; the apex of a (full) cascade style falls below the base of the pot.
(iii) Raft-Style or Netsuranari bonsai mimic a natural phenomenon that occurs when a tree topples onto its side, e.g., from erosion or another natural force. Branches along the top side of the trunk continue to grow as a group of new trunks. Sometimes, roots will develop from buried portions of the trunk.
Raft-style bonsai can have sinuous, straight-line or slanting trunks, all giving the illusion that they are a group of separate trees, while actually being the branches of a tree planted on its side.
(iv) The literati Style or Bunjin-gi bonsai is characterised by a generally bare trunk line, with branches reduced to a minimum and typically placed the top of a long, often contorted trunk. This style derives its name from the Chinese literati who created Chinese brush paintings like those found in the ancient text, the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting.
Their minimalist landscapes often depicted trees growing in harsh conditions, with contorted trunks and reduced foliage. In Japan, the literati style is known as bunjin-gi (Bunjin is a translation of the Chinese phrase wenren meaning ‘scholars practiced in the arts’ and gi is a derivative of the Japanese word, ki, for ‘tree’).
(v) The Group or Forest Style or Yose Ue, comprises a planting of several or many trees and typically an odd number, in a bonsai pot. The trees are usually the same species, with a variety of heights employed to add visual interest and to reflect the age differences encountered in mature forests.
(vi) The Broom Style or Hokidachi is employed for trees with extensive, fine branching, often with species like elms. The trunk is straight and upright. It branches out in all directions about 1/3 of the way up the entire height of the tree. The branches and leaves form a ball-shaped crown which can also be very beautiful during the winter months.
(vii) The Multi-trunk Style or Ikadabuki, has all the trunks growing out of one spot with one root system, and it actually is one single tree. Its counterpart in nature is the tree clump formed, e.g., where a single pine cone has sprouted a number of seedlings in one spot. All the trunks combine to support one crown of leaves, in which the thickest and most developed trunk forms the top.
(viii) The Shari Style or Sharimiki, style involves portraying a tree in its struggle to live, while a significant part of its trunk is bare of bark. In nature, trees in the Sharimiki style are created by lightning or animals eating the bark.
(ix) The Root-over-rock Style or Sekijoju, is a style in which the roots of the tree are wrapped around a rock. The rock is at the base of the trunk, with the roots exposed to varying degrees as they traverse the rock and then descend into the soil below.