Ta. Obrien et Av. Barker, EVALUATING COMPOSTS TO PRODUCE WILDFLOWER SODS ON PLASTIC, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 122(3), 1997, pp. 445-451
This research evaluated production of wildflower sods in soil and comp
osts of mixed municipal solid waste, biosolids and woodchips, fall lea
ves, and mixed agricultural wastes. Soil or composts were laid on plas
tic sheeting in outdoor plots, and a mixture of wildflower seeds was s
own in July and in September in separate experiments. Quality of sods
was assessed in two growing seasons, Best sods with respect to seed ge
rmination, stand establishment, and intensity and diversity of bloom o
ver two seasons occurred in mature biosolids compost and in agricultur
al waste compost. These composts were low in ammonium but rich in tota
l N. Germination and growth of wildflowers were limited by high ammoni
um concentrations in immature biosolids composts. Nitrogen deficiency
limited sod growth and quality in leaf composts. Poor N nutrition and
weed competition restricted sod production in soil. Fertilization of s
oil promoted unacceptably large weed growth. Summer seeding or fall se
eding resulted in good sods, but many annual flowers that appeared in
the summer seeding were absent in the fall-seeded planting. Using plas
tic-lined plots was a convenient system for evaluating composts and ot
her media in outdoor culture.