Compost addition,but not tillage,affects establishment of urban highway plantings

Establishment of roadside plantings is often limited by adverse site conditions, particularly poor soil physical and chemical properties. We compared plant establishment of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and grasses in response to addition of compost and/or tillage before planting in replicated plots at two locations along an interstate highway near Detroit, MI, USA. Plots at each location received one of four site preparation treatments: control (no treatment), compost only (top-dressed with 8 cm of municipal compost), tillage only (soil tilled to 20 cm) or compost + tillage (8 cm of compost added and tilled to 20 cm). Within each site preparation plot, we established sub-plots of 16 selections of shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses. Compost addition, plant selection, and location affected (P ≤ 0.05) plant survival, height growth, and % plant cover two years after planting. Tillage did not affect (P > 0.05) plant establishment. Similarly, the interaction of tillage × compost was not significant, indicating that surface application of compost was as effective as tilling compost into the soil. Improved plant establishment with the addition of compost was associated with improved soil and plant nutrition and reduced soil pH and soil bulk density. Within each plant group (i.e., shrubs, perennials, grasses) plant establishment varied widely. Overall, the results indicate that compost addition can improve establishment of diverse roadside plantings, which was associated with improved soil fertility. In contrast, tillage provided comparatively little benefit to plant performance in this trial.