Sheet Mulching as an Aid to Broadleaved Tree Establishment II. Comparison of Various Sizes of Black Polythene Mulch and Herbicide Treated Spot

Eight experiments, each having 15 treatments, were established.Sites with clayey, loamy and sandy soils were used. The treatmentsincluded herbicide spots of various sizes up to whole plotskept weed-free; polythene mats of various sizes up to wholeplots (10 x 8 m) covered in polythene; and polythene mats ofvarious sizes with the rest of the weeds within the plot treatedwith herbicide. In each experiment survival or growth or both increased thefurther weeds were kept from the trees. Growth was increasedmost on the sandy site. Survival was increased most in the experimentwhich used poor quality oak plants - from zero in the controltreatment to 63 per cent in the whole-plot polythene treatment.Herbicide spots were generally better than polythene mats whenthe area treated was less than one square metre per tree, butnot so good when larger areas were treated: this is attributedto weeds rooting under the mulches. Growth was increased whenthe weeds around the mulches were killed. Accidental herbicidedamage, voles gnawing the trees from beneath the mulches, andsoil anaerobism on poorly drained sites also influenced theresults.