Podocarpus, alias Taxodium, is an evergreen conifer. It is 20 meters high, DBH is 60 centimeters long, and the top is oval. Bark grayish brown to dark gray, shallow longitudinal cracks, peeling off. Dense branches and leaves, strip-shaped lanceolate leaves, alternate spirals, 7 ~ 12 cm long and 7 ~ 10 mm wide. The ribs on both sides are obviously convex, with dark green surface and yellow-green back. Likes warm and humid climate, has weak cold tolerance and strong ornamental value in potted plants. It is located in northern China and distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and other places. The material is fine and uniform, and easy to process. It has medicinal value and can be used as furniture, utensils, stationery and agricultural tools.
Because of its quaint tree shape and unique combination of seeds and stems, people can't put it down, and it is planted in temples and houses in the south. It can be planted in front of the door, alone in the atrium, or in a corner of the wall to match the rockery and lake stone. Podocarpus maculatus can be planted as a flower bed, or decorated with flower beds or potted plants for indoor appreciation. Podocarpus microphylla can also be planted as a courtyard hedge.
Luo's modeling technology;
First, the modeling purpose
The aim of Luo's artistic modeling is "modeling with trees" and "applying art with materials". By using superb artistic expression techniques, Luo digs out the highest artistic realm from ordinary trees and maximizes its ornamental value.
Second, modeling technology.
Commonly used techniques are cutting, tying, pressing, tying and hanging. Pruning modeling is relatively simple, but it is difficult to tie, press, bind and hang modelling technique, which requires high artistic imagination, operation skills and tree branches. In the process of modeling, we must carry out artistic processing according to the natural beauty of seedlings, that is, we must tailor the trees to enhance the aesthetic feeling and make the modeling strong and distinct.
1. Shearing: We can make various shapes, such as round, conical, multi-layer spherical, etc., by using the characteristics of arhat pine's pruning resistance and small leaf shape, and only need to trim it according to the pre-designed figure. For example, when pruning a three-layer sphere, first choose seedlings with obvious trunk and good upright shape. If the pruning design is a three-layer sphere, the total height is 2 meters, the lower layer is about 50 cm, the middle layer is about 40 cm and the top layer is 30 cm. The height between the first layer and the second layer of the trunk is 45 cm, and the branches with a height of 35 cm between the second layer and the third layer need to be trimmed, and then three balls need to be trimmed. The above three kinds of balls should be longer and bigger, which is more ornamental in proportion. Generally, it is advisable to prune new branches when they are 20 ~ 30 cm away, and prune them several times to make each layer round and dense.
2. Ties: Strong bamboo sticks and tough hemp ropes can be used to make tie shapes. Tie the bamboo stick and the branches tightly with hemp rope, and then fix one end of the bamboo stick on the trunk, so that by adjusting the direction of the bamboo stick, the branches can grow in a specific direction according to the stylist's wishes and achieve the purpose of modeling. It should be noted that the tying method is suitable for the younger Podocarpus, while the older Podocarpus is difficult to tie because of its thick branches, and the effect is not good.
3. Pressing: Pressing modeling is mainly to bend and tilt the trunk, so that the tree presents a completely different artistic beauty on the inclined plane from the vertical plane. Because the branches of Podocarpus are like human arms, the hemispherical leaves produced by the cluster are planted at the top of the branches like the palms of human hands, and the curved tree body is like a greeter bending his arms to greet guests, which is very vivid. It should be noted that after the tree body is bent, the inclined end must be supported by a wooden stake to prevent the tree body from falling down due to excessive inclination, and the contact surface between the wooden stake and the tree body should be padded with straw with moderate thickness to avoid hurting the tree body.