The success of land reclamation programmes depends largely on the survival rates of plant stock, but in many areas a lack of precipitation and high summer temperatures result in high rates of plant mortality for such schemes. The problem is compounded by the marginal soils often encountered in projects, in areas left bare from erosion, mining or industrial activity.
By surrounding plants’ roots with water, fertilizers and natural growth stimulating elements, TerraCottem Universal provides transplanted trees and shrubs with a significantly higher chance to survive the critical period just following transplanting, and for many years after.
By improving growing conditions in degraded soils and limiting the amount of salinity or contamination available to plant roots, TerraCottem Universal is also effective in helping to restore vegetation in areas reclaimed from the sea or from mines, dumps and industrial areas.References
 Zilvermeer, Mol, Belgium Sandy berm before planting |
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Initial efforts to reclaim the 150 hectare site, formerly mined for its high-quality sand, for use as a recreation area involved using a pine forest topsoil growing medium brought in from off-site, ameliorated with fertilizers before planting. This growing medium had little capacity and resulted in high plant mortality rates and large amounts of weed growth, causing maintenance crews to spend an inordinate amount of time just clearing weeds from planted areas. Based on the positive results of a trial, TerraCottem Universal was incorporated into the lawns, trees and shrubs of the recreation area and the berms running throughout it. Cost savings achieved by incorporating the technology into the sandy growing medium included not having to bring in organic matter/topsoil from off-site, reducing the amount of maintenance and increasing the survival rate from 50% to 80%.
Mine reforestation using TerraCottem Universal
Tae Baek City, Kang-Won Do, Korea
 Dune stabilisation. Picture was taken just after planting with TerraCottem Universal: 8 cm layer of soil to prevent sand movement and plastic was used to prevent weeds’ growth and sand movement. |
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 100 days later (Buddleia on the left and Tamarix on the right). In the previous planting schemes the plants were much smaller. |
 1 year later – the incorporation of TerraCottem Universal increased the survival from 60% to 90%. |
By surrounding plants’ roots with water, fertilizers and natural growth stimulating elements, TerraCottem Universal provides transplanted trees and shrubs with a significantly higher chance to survive the critical period just following transplanting, and for many years after.
More Growth, Less Water
TerraCottem, Leading soil conditioning technology.