ESTABLISHING CROWN VETCH ON STEEP ACID SLOPES IN VIRGINIA

PERSISTENT VEGETATION WITH LOW MAINTENANCE COST FOR STEEP ROADSIDE SLOPES IN CRITICALLY NEEDED. CROWN VETCH (CORONILLA VARIA) IS A LEGUMINOUS PLANT ADAPTABLE TO MANY ENVIRONMENTS. EXPERIMENTS IN APPALACHIAN, BLUE RIDGE, AND PIEDMONT REGIONS OF VIRGINIA WERE CONDUCTED TO INVESTIGATE EFFECTS OF LIME, NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZERS, COMPANION GRASSES, ESTABLISHMENT METHODS, AND SLOPE EXPOSURE ON GROWTH, ESTABLISHMENT, AND PERSISTENCE OF CROWN VETCH. CROWN VETCH SEEDLINGS DEVELOPED SLOWLY THE FIRST YEAR AND GENERALLY REQUIRED 2 TO 3 YEARS TO PROVIDE A COMPLETE GROUND COVER. AGRICULTURAL LIMESTONE SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED SURVIVAL AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF CROWN VETCH AT ALL LOCATIONS; 100 TO 200 LB/ACRE OF PHOSPHORUS PENTOXIDE GAVE ADDITIONAL RESPONSES BUT HIGH RATES (150 LB/ACRE) OF SOLUBLE N GENERALLY OVERSTIMULATED GROWTH OF KENTUCKY 31 TALL FESCUE AND OTHER COMPANION GRASSES THAT RETARDED CROWN VETCH SEEDINGS AND SUBSEQUENT STANDS. APPLYING 50 TO 75 PERCENT NITROGEN PER ACRE AS SLOW RELEASE NITROGEN (UREAFORMALDEHYDE) PROVIDED STABLE AND LESS AGGRESSIVE COMPANION GRASS GROWTH AND PERMITTED SATISFACTORY CROWN VETCH ESTABLISHMENT. BEST CROWN VETCH SEEDLING STANDS AND FIRST WINTER SURVIVAL WERE OBTAINED WITH EARLY SPRING SEEDLINGS. MORE UNIFORM AND FASTER GROUND COVER WAS OBTAINED ON THE COOLER SEMI-SHADED SLOPES THAN ON SUNNY SLOPES. SATISFACTORY STANDS WERE OBTAINED WITH ROOT CUTTINGS, BUT THIS ESTABLISHMENT METHOD WAS MORE COSTLY THAN THAT OF SEEDING. STANDS OF CROWN VETCH ON SLOPES, LIMED AND FERTILIZED LIBERALLY AT ESTABLISHMENT, HAVE PERSISTED ADDITIONAL LIME AND FERTILIZER FOR 12 YEARS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1970/335/335-006.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Roadside Development and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Woodruff, John M
  • Blaser, Roy E
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 19-28
• Monograph Title: Roadside development and maintenance
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 335
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calcium oxide; Crash exposure; Fertilizers; Grasses; Ground cover; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Planting; Roadside; Roadside flora; Roadside improvement; Slopes; Urban growth; Vegetation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Exposure
• Old TRIS Terms: Crownvetch
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204820
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 11 1971 12:00AM