Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture. Vol. LVII, 2013Print ISSN 2285-5653, CD-ROM ISSN 2285-5661, Online ISSN 2286-1580, ISSN-L 2285-5653AbstractUSE OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTS ON DIFFERENT SOIL TYPESFROM TRANSYLVANIAN PLAINErzsebet BUTA, Mihai BUTA, Maria CANTOR, Denisa HORT, Anca HUSTIUniversity of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj,3-5 Manastur Street, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaCorresponding author email: ebuta2008@yahoo.comThe paper include necessary issues to help specialists in landscape architecture to choose dendro-floricol assortment,which exploit the studied maximum potential edaphic conditions, given the multitude of requirements expressed byflower plants to edaphic environment. To highlight the issues shown above it was chosen to exemplify some soil typesfrom Transylvanian Plain where soil conditions are not the best for all ornamental plants. Thus we studied andanalyzed the main physico-chemical properties of calcareous soils, sandy, acidic soils and substrates with moistureexcess. The main ornamental plants presented in this paper are adapted to these extreme conditions and can be asolution for use in landscaping.Key words: soil types, ornamentals, landscape design.INTRODUCTIONSoil occupies a well settled place in thebiosphere, finding the boundary between twoworlds, lithosphere and atmosphere, formingthe so-called pedoshere. It is known that thesoil has an important influence on health andplant growth rate. The soil has a stronginfluence on the plants (Reed, 2011). Theknowledge of soil types helps in keeping andgrowing plants effectively and the use of soiltype required for plant will be essential in thegrowth and development of its faster (Pauletteet al., 2010).This paper is based on the study of plantsgrown on different soil types and it’s a helpinghand in choosing these for specific conditionsor places in the garden.In most soils, the relative proportion of clay,sand, and silt particles influence its physicaland chemical nature. The main exception ispeaty soil, which is dark in color and rich inorganic matter. Peaty soils are derived fromsedges or mosses, which have decomposed inwaterlogged conditions. They are acidic andmoisture-retentive, providing ideal conditionsfor acid-loving plants like rhododendrons(Reed, 2011).Clay soils are fertile but are slow to warm inspring, sticky, and slow-draining after rain,baking hard in dry weather. Silty soils feel silky295or soapy and are easily compacted. Sandy soilsfeel gritty and will not stick together to form aball (Reed, 2011; Paulette et al., 2010). Theyare light and free draining and quick to warm inspring, but they will need frequent irrigationand fertilizing. Chalky soils are alkaline,usually pale in color and stony, with chunks ofalkaline minerals visible on the surface. Theyare often shallow and sometimes sticky. Theideal soil type is a loamy one, which has anapproximately equal mixture of clay, silt, andsand. Loamy soils are good for the widestpossible range of plants (Reed, 2011).Bellow is presented the studied soil types andthe dendro-floricol assortment.MATERIALS AND METHODSSoils were analyzed according to the“Methodology of soil study development-ICPA-1987 (Research Institute for Pedologyand Agrochemistry) completed by soilclassification as SRTS-2012 (Romanian SoilToxonomy System).1. Calcaro-rendzic leptosols (WRB – SR-1988) present the next succession of horizons:Am A/R Rrz.The phisico-chemical properties of calcarorendzicleptosols is characterized by: fieldcapacity (CC%) between 23 and 41%; wiltingcoefficient (CO%) 6-14%; available moisture