Dahl, et al. (1975) estimated harvesting, processing, and machine 

 planting of bitter panicum at the rate of 230 plants per man-hour and 

 130 plants per man-hour for sea oats. 



The cost of European beachgrass planting stock is not available but 

 since this is the easiest of the beachgrasses to propagate, planting stock 

 should be about the same or cheaper than American beachgrass. McLaughlin 

 and Brown (1942) estimated a production rate of 136 to 156 hills per man- 

 hour for hand planting. This is slightly lower than east coast estimates 

 for planting American beachgrass. Machine planting of European beach- 

 grass should be at the same rate as American beachgrass. 



Fertilization costs (materials, rates, and application methods) vary 

 considerably from site to site and region to region. In 1977, enough 

 nitrogen (40 kilograms) to fertilize a hectare could be purchased as 

 ammonium nitrate for $20 to $25. 



III. STABILIZATION OF DUNES 



Dune stabilization, as opposed to dune building, is required where 

 dunes are constructed mechanically by dredge, bulldozer, or fence, or 

 where existing dunes become unstable because of damage to vegetation by 

 fire, lumbering, grazing, and overuse. Foot and vehicular traffic as 

 well as grazing has caused extensive damage at Cape Cod (Westgate, 1904) 

 and in other parts of the country, such as along the shores of Lake 

 Michigan (Lehotsky, 1941) and in the Pacific Northwest (McLaughlin 

 and Brown, 1942) . 



The principles and practices involved in planting grasses to build 

 dunes generally apply equally to stabilizing bare or unstable dunes. 

 However, there are other methods that are sometimes used to stabilize 

 bare sands that collect little sand and have little or no value in dune 

 building. Where stabilization is the primary purpose, some modifications 

 in the planting techniques may be required. 



1. Mats, Netting, Brush, Mulches, and Stone . 



Bare sand surfaces can be quickly protected by matting and nets. 

 Dahl, et al. (1975) found a coarse netting useful in protecting fence- 

 built dunes while transplanted dune grasses were establishing. There 

 are a number of commercially available mats and nets that may be used 

 for this purpose. They protect the sand surface but collect little sand. 

 Some are applied directly to the surface but the more open nets are used 

 to hold a layer of mulch in place. Probably, the best use for nets is to 

 protect new seedings as transplants tend to lift rather than grow through 

 it. All nets and matting are subject to traffic damage and require care- 

 ful protection of edges to prevent rollup by wind action. 



Brush is an effective temporary stabilizer (Stratton and Hollowell, 

 1940; Lehotsky, 1941). It is laid over bare sand in a shingle arrange- 

 ment with the tops of each successive layer overlapping the butts of the 



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