ABSTRACT
Plants are growing, changing, interacting organisms and plant communities, whether they are spontaneous or designed, and exist in a state of flux. The patterns of temperature, light, wind, moisture, nutrient availability and diseases can cause significant variations in the growth of plants in different locations. Diseases and pests affect the growth and development of planting. Finally, human pressures are a crucial and often unpredictable biotic factor affecting plant growth and development. Developing a landscape with plants is not like building a house or even a hard landscape with bricks and mortar. To the designer, plants are green building blocks that can be assembled to form living structures in the landscape. Indeed the planting that performs this role is often called structure planting or framework planting. Creating spaces has been described as an ‘architectural’ function of plants. Trees and shrubs with special aesthetic appeal are often planted to supplement the basic structure planting.
