From this one-year experience, it appears that the planting date has 

 no major effect on first-year growth from the time dormancy begins (around 

 November 1-15 at this latitude) until new growth starts (around March 15). 

 Plants were not fully dormant on October 15 and plants dug and replanted 

 at that stage did not grow off nearly as we I I as those transplanted a 

 month later. Plantings made after March 15 were also at a disadvantage. 

 It is significant that survival was nearly perfect at al I dates, indicating 

 that, in the less critical situations, the planting season could begin as 

 early as October 15 and be extended as late as early May. However, where 

 ful I growth is desired, November and March seem to represent the I imits. 



It had been thoughtthat it might be possible to dig plants during the 

 dormant period, hold them in cold storage, and, thereby, extend the plant- 

 ing season. This appeared to have some advantage during the first few 

 weeks after planting, but as the season progressed, most evidence of it 

 disappeared. This point may deserve further study. 



Time of planting other species has not been studied experimentally. 

 Observations suggest that it may be desirable to transplant sea oats and 

 perhaps dune panic grass in late fa I I soon after they become dormant. 

 Cordgrass can be transplanted later in the spring than beachgrass, even 

 into the summer, on wet flats. 



b. Number of Stems - American Beachgrass 



It has been customary in this area in planting American beachgrass 

 to use plants composed of 3 to 5 stems (culms) in each planting hole or 

 hill, and this practice has been producing satisfactory stands the first 

 year. Obviously, planting stock represents a significant part of the total 

 cost of planting. For this reason, trials were set out in the early spring 

 of 1964 and again in the winter of 1964-1965 to examine the effect of 

 number of stems on first-year stand and growth. 



Plants of different sizes were obtained in two ways (I) single stems - 

 the nursery clone broken down to single stems and these recombined to get 

 the des i red number in each hill, and (2) clumps - the clone was divided 

 into intact plants of different sizes, i.e., I, 2, 4, 8 and 16 stems. Data 

 from these tests are shown in Table |4, and an average of the two 1965 

 tests plotted in Figure 12. 



The effect of number of stems is quite consistent throughout these 

 trials, indicating that this variable has a major effect on the cover pro- 

 duced by a given planting through the first growing season. This would 

 suggest that adjustments in number of stems per hill depend upon the ob- 

 jective of the particular planting, the nature of the site, and the rate 

 of growth expected. Single-stem plants may be justified in plantings on 

 unexposed areas where little blowing sand is likely to be available. 

 Certainly, in more exposed locations and where the object is to trap 

 blowing sand, much larger plants would be highly desirable. 



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