Artistic and decorative principles of plant selection for nature therapy

Having analyzed the collection samples of ornamental cereal plants of the State Dendrological Park "Olexandria" of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bila Tserkva and the Botanical Garden of BNAU, we found that for compositional solutions of the formation of landscape space of territories with the function of nature therapy, the following artistic and decorative principles of selection should be taken into account: plant height (low-growing, medium-growing, "giant" grasses), inflorescence size (short, long), leaf color (gray, green, with variegated leaves, with white longitudinal stripes, with yellow-green longitudinal stripes, with transverse stripes of different widths, red), inflorescence color (green, straw-yellow, silvery, purple), pink. Based on the results of studying the decorative features of ornamental cereal plants and their impact on improving emotional state, reducing stress and creating a harmonious and calming environment for visitors, we propose using ornamental cereal plants for compositional solutions of landscape and architectural spaces with peri-natural functions, which will bring a sense of peace and harmony. After analyzing the collection samples of ornamental cereal plants from the State Dendrological Park “Alexandria” of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Bila Tserkva and the Botanical Garden of the BNAU, it was established that for compositional solutions for the formation of landscape space in areas with a nature therapy function, the following artistic and decorative principles of selection should be taken into account: plant height (low-growing, medium-growing, “giant” grasses), inflorescence size (short, long, and those that do not form or rarely form inflorescences), leaf color (blue, green, variegated leaves with white longitudinal stripes, with yellow-green longitudinal stripes, with transverse stripes of various widths, red), inflorescence color (green, straw-yellow, silvery, pink, purple). Based on the research results of decorative features of ornamental cereals and their impact on improving emotional state, reducing stress, and creation a harmonious and calming environment for visitors, we suggest using ornamental grasses for landscape and architectural space design solutions with nature therapy functions, which will bring a sense of peace and harmony. Compositions involving ornamental grasses should be formed from massive plantings of one or several species, with color being secondary in importance to the texture and shape of these arrays. We suggest using the following species: Festuca glauca, Helictotrichon sempervirens (Vill.) Pilg.), Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng., Cortaderia selloana, Phalaris arundinacea L., Calamagrostis acutiflora (Schrad.) DC. ‘Avalanche’, Alopecurus pratensis L. ‘Aureovariegatus’, Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. 'Strictus' and ‘Zebrinus’, Imperata cylindric, Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth., Miscanthus sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Hack., Stipa capillata, Eragrostis spectabilis (Pursh) Steud. ‘Purple Love’, Pennisetum glaucum R.Br. ‘Purple Baron’. Key words: ornamental cereals, nature therapy, landscape architecture space.