Improving Vegetation and Mowing Management in Highway Corridors: Final Report

About the report:

Ky-31 tall fescue was found to be the best adapted cool season perennial grass for use in Virginia. Persistence of fine-leaved, short grasses was poor. Late winter-early spring seeding of perennial legumes was found to be the best season for seeding for renovating cut slopes and medians with degenerating grass sods. Late winter seedings in medians were highly successful where seedbeds were prepared with a field cultivator. Crownvetch growing together with tall fescue was found to persist with different mowing regimes during two successive growing seasons. No enhancement of establishment of legumes was observed from micronutrients at several Coastal Plain sites nor by coating of bacterial inoculant onto legume seeds. Buckwheat was found to be an adequate substitute for millets as a summer annual companion species. German millet plus tall fescue were found to be the best associates for summer establishment of sericea lespedeza. Weeping lovegrass reduced sericea establishment by competing strongly in the summer, but was the best associate for establishment of crownvetch because lovegrass grows poorly when crownvetch grows vigorously. Lehmann lovegrass is not adapted to Virginia. Successful seedings of velvet bentgrass as a perennial companion species were confined to the early favorable seeding season. American beachgrass shows some promise for stabilizing coarse textured, sloughing slopes if soil acidity is not limiting. Limestone gravel filled trenches successfully moderated extreme acid conditions on a cut slope where sulfides had been exposed.

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