MULCHES FOR GRASS ESTABLISHMENT ON STEEP CONSTRUCTION SLOPES

THIRTEEN MULCH TREATMENTS WERE EVALUATED ON PLOTS SEEDED TO LINCOLN BROMEGRASS ON A 3 TO 1 ROADSIDE BACKSLOPE IN SEPTEMBER 1965. PLOTS PROTECTED WITH EXCELSIOR MAT, PRAIRIE HAY ANCHORED WITH A LOOSE PAPER NETTING, OR A COMBINATION OF EMULSIFIABLE ASPHALT AS AN ANCHORAGE FOR WOODCHIPS, CHOPPED CORNCOBS, PRAIRIE HAY, OR WOOD CELLULOSE HAD SIGNIFICANTLY MORE GRASS COVER THAN DID THE NO-MULCH TREATMENT. ALTHOUGH DIFFERENCES IN SOIL MOISTURE PERCENTAGES AND SOIL TEMPERATURES BETWEEN MULCH TREATMENTS WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, THESE FACTORS APPARENTLY HAD NO GREAT PRACTICAL EFFECTS ON SEEDLING GRASS STANDS WITH ONE EXCEPTION. THE POOR STAND OF GRASS ON THE PLOT MULCHED WITH EMULSIFIABLE ASPHALT MAY HAVE BEEN DUE TO HIGH SOIL TEMPERATURES AND THE WIDE RANGE BETWEEN SOIL TEMPERATURE EXTREMES. THE RATE OF 1200 GALLONS PER ACRE ALSO MAY HAVE BEEN EXCESSIVE FOR GOOD GERMINATION. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MULCHES PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN GREATER UNDER CONDITIONS OF NORMAL, OR PREFERABLY BELOW NORMAL, PRECIPITATION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1967/206/206-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Roadside Development and presented at the 46th 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:
  • Dudeck, A E
  • Swanson, N P
  • Dedrick, A R
• Publication Date: 1967

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 53-59
• Monograph Title: Roadside Development
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 206
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Backslopes; Cellulose; Emulsified asphalt; Grasses; Mulching; Roadside; Slopes; Soil water; Soils; Temperature; Urban growth
• Old TRIS Terms: Precipitation; Soil temperature
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204681
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 2 1994 12:00AM