Native Plants: The Unplanted Are the Stars

An urban green space that deliberately embraces spontaneous plants. The designer only did two things: define the pavement framework and the path locations; the rest of the ground is entirely left to plants that grew by themselves—oxalis and ferns by the wall, plantains in pavement cracks, Bidens pilosa and miscanthus on wasteland, and Ficus pumila on the wall. The distribution of these plants is completely irregular, with varying heights; some thrive in certain seasons, others wither. Management involves selective pruning rather than removal, solely to maintain path accessibility. The image presents this seemingly wild yet actually orderly state: clear pavement lines, chaotic plant growth. Avoid: completely removing spontaneous plants, planting neat ornamental flower beds, allowing plants to completely cover paths, or making the space look like merely an unmanaged wasteland.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一處刻意接納自生植物的都市綠地。設計者只做了兩件事:鋪面的框架與步道的位置;其餘的地面完全交給自己長出來的植物——牆邊的酢漿草與蕨、鋪面縫隙裡的車前草、荒地上的大花咸豐草與芒草、牆上的薜荔。這些植物的分佈完全不規則,高度參差,有些季節茂盛有些枯萎。管理的方式不是拔除而是選擇性的修剪,只維持步道的通行。畫面呈現這種看似荒蕪但實際有秩序的狀態:鋪面線條清楚,植物混亂。避免:把自生植物清除乾淨、種植整齊的觀賞花圃、把步道也讓植物佔滿、讓空間看起來只是無人管理的荒地。