User:Anthony B Hall/Zoysia Cover Mulch Circle (ZCMC) System, The

ZOYSIA COVER MULCH CIRCLE SYSTEM, THE

See "Zoysia Cover Mulch Circle (ZCMC) System, The"

ZOYSIA COVER MULCH CIRCLE SYSTEM, THE –

The Zoysia Cover Mulch Circle system is the result of nearly twenty years of searching by a Jamaican agricultural engineer, Anthony Bartholomew Hall, for a better and easier way than those in common use, for controlling weeds and soil erosion in tropical orchards or tree farms on which herbicide spraying and mechanical mowing were unsafe or undesirable. The ZCMC system was first described in a 1995 doctoral dissertation of the University of the West Indies.

The ZCMC system uses the slow growing, densely turf forming grass, Zoysia tenuifolia L. (Carpet Grass, Velvet Grass)as a biological aid to simple hand tool operations. A circle of periodically turned mulching is maintained around each tree (using weed and Zoysia cuttings, shed tree leaves, etc) to control competition of the Zoysia with the trees. The mulch also affords soil erosion control; and may be used to control fertilizer loss by rain water washing.

The key to the practicality of the ZCMC system is the recognition that a Z. tenuifolia turf can be readily established in most tropical tree farm situations by spot planting with Z. ten., plants grown from sprigs in small containers in a nursery (ZT Cells) or plugs of mature sod; then gradually stripping away the weed growth as the Zoysia spreads.

The developed cover is maintained by, at least twice per year, turning over the mulch at each tree with a push hoe or hook bladed machete, hand pulling or chipping out with a suitable machete, any weeds penetrating the Zoysia turf, slashing by machete any "tall" or senile Zoysia growths, and adding the trash to the mulch circles, taking care to inactivate any succulent weed pieces.

With the slow growth rate of Z. ten., the initial "cover development stage" will take several months. Features of the well developed ZCMC cover include: easier maintenance than any other present system of similar application; and superb soil erosion control, offering superior protection against triggering mud slides by cultivating tree crops on steep slopes. Problems affecting the ZCMC system are few.

For more information, see

Hall, Anthony B., 2009 The "Zoysia Cover Mulch Circle" or "ZCMC" system for steeply sloping or small Tropical orchards. A Hall, Kingston, Jamaica ISBN 978-976-8217-66-0.