%0 Research article
%T Effect of weed control with fibre mulches and herbicides on the initial development of spruce, birch and aspen seedlings on abandoned farmland
%A Siipilehto, Jouni
%D 2001
%J Silva Fennica
%V 35
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.577
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/577
%X Post-planting weed control methods on abandoned farmland were studied in  three field trials in southern Finland using a completely randomized  design with four treatments and 30 to 40 replications. Mulches of 60 x  60 cm [sheet mulch – strips of plane waste and plastic fibre, newspaper –  waste paper slurry, wood chips, pure wood fibre slurry], herbicides  [i.e. glyphosate or terbuthylazine alone or mixed and dichlobenile  applied to 1 m2 spots] and hoeing treatments were compared to an  untreated control plot. The study material consisted of two-year-old  containerized aspen (Populus tremula L.), silver birch (Betula pendula  (L.) Roth) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings planted  in spring 1996. The ground vegetation was dominated by Elymys repens,  Deschampsia cespitosa, Cirsium arvense and Epilobium angustifolium.  Monitoring of the trials over a 3-year period showed a moderate effect  of weed control, which varied according to the method used and by the  crop species. Significant growth responses were found with herbicide in  spruce, wood chips in spruce and birch and with sheet mulch in aspen  seedlings. Sheet mulch also encouraged vole nesting thus increasing  damages. Generally, slurry mulches proved to be insufficiently durable.  Mulching had a clear insulating effect, which may increase the risk of  winter drought.