Effects of evergreen trees on landscape preference and perceived restorativeness across seasons

ABSTRACT

Season is an important factor influencing preference and psychological restoration, especially in temperate regions. Evergreen plants can mediate landscape changes across seasons and increase greenness when deciduous trees are leafless. However, what are the impacts of evergreen plants on preference and restoration? The answers are still unknown and important to research. To address this gap this study conducted an experiment, in which, based on four photographs taken on a site in four seasons, 24 images were created using the photomontage technique by adding evergreen trees to the original pictures. The results indicated that: (1) evergreen plants significantly improved the landscape preference only in spring; (2) significant effects of evergreen plants on psychological restoration in spring, autumn and winter were noted and (3) types and amounts of evergreen trees had non-significant impacts on year-round preference and restoration. Additionally, seasonal transformation had an essential impact on both preference and restoration.

KEYWORDS:

• Evergreen plants
• aesthetic preference
• restorative quality
• seasonality

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the 7 postgraduates and 596 participants in our trials. This research is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (19KJB220007).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province [19KJB220007].

Notes on contributors

Ronghua Wang

Ronghua Wang received her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Nanjing Forestry University and is now an Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Geomatics and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, China. Her research focuses on healthy landscapes, landscape aesthetic evaluation and ecological landscapes.

Jingwei Zhao

Jingwei Zhao received his PhD in Ecology from East China Normal University and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Nanjing Forestry University, China. He is a Professor at the School of Architecture and Design, China University of Mining and Technology. His research interests include landscape design, ornamental plants, landscape aesthetics and mental recovery environment.