Three woody landscape species, Rhododendron indica ‘President Clay’, Ligustrum sinense ‘variegata’, and Ilex crenata ‘compacta’, were grown in media prepared from fresh pine bark, pine bark with wood, and pine tree chips. Although media were variable in physical properties, all exhibited very high hydraulic conductivity and low water holding capacity. The capacity of these media materials to hold fertilizer elements was very low. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus were rapidly removed by leaching while calciuum and magnesium were retained longer because of the low solubility of dolomitic limestone. Pine bark was the best growth media tested for all plant species. Pine bark with wood was less satisfactory than pine bark and growth was poorest in pine tree chips. More research is needed on the use of the organic amendments with greater amounts of wood before being widely used as organic components of growth media.
