Soil fertility of cherry orchard interplanting with grasses systems

The influence of three different management patterns (planting white clover, interplanting apple seedlings and bare land) on soil physical and chemical characteristics was determined in the experiment. The results showed that planting white clover significantly increased the nitrate nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen concentrations of 0-20 cm soil layer, and was 1.73 and 1.93 times of the bare land (CK), respectively. Available potassium and organic matters were also increased by 35.08% and 52.38%. Interplanting apple seedlings had no significant influence on concentrations of nitrate nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen in topsoil, while it made available potassium concentration increase by 48.61% compared to CK. However, the soil water content under planting white clover treatment decreased 25.27%, and the competition for water between grass and trees appeared. Thus, we suggested that the span of growing grass in cherry orchards in Tianshui area should be less than 3 years and then the soil should be cultivated and mulched for water retention.