For the past 4 years, research has been conducted to refine the state of knowledge about the establishment and management of herbaceous meadows for highway landscapes in Massachusetts. As alternativesto turfgrass, meadows can provide three principal types of benefits: (a) ecological benefits derived from a more diverse self-sustaining planting without a reliance on agrichemicals and mowing, (b) economic benefits through dramatic reductions in mowing, and (c) aesthetic improvements resulting from a diverse planting of indigenous flowers and grasses. A split-block replicate experimental planting was installed in 1989 to test the effects of three tillage treatments, three fertilizer treatments, and two post-emergent herbicide treatments. Two years of field observations on species diversity and plant density found that tilling permitted better establishment of wildflowers than not tilling; pre-emergent treatments showed a significant decrease in invasive grasses and an increase in wildflowers; fertilization did not improve the growth of wildflowers, grasses, or broadleaved weeds; and the monocot-specific herbicide was effective in controlling invasive grasses. The research documented that the primary obstacle to successful wildflower establishment is the spread of opportunistic turf-forming grasses and broadleaved weeds. This experiment has led to revised site preparation and establishment specificationsto help maintain successful, self-sustaining meadows for highway landscapes.
Abstract