The present invention relates to a vegetation nutritive and growth substance.

The invention relates in particular to such a nutritive and growth substance, by means of which a ferti lizing of the substance may be delayed over a long span of years, i .e. over 20 to 50 years, when the nutritive and growth substance is concentrated in the shapes of bales which are used to bui ld plan¬ tation walls, especially noise protecting walls or sound penetration impeding wall portions which exhibit a comparatively modest thickness, i .e. of the magnitude of 20 to 40 cm, and where the nutritive aY>d "growth substance possesses such feasible consistencies that it may be suitably non-rupturab le and yet be adequately lissom and flexible, so that transportation of the structure is possible, and so that the wind and other weak influences wi ll not damage the bales, of which such a plantation wall is bui lt, and such that the bales may be held in a wall structure by means of lissom and flexible support of a relatively simple design as exa plified below. The use of such plantation walls along roads wi ll be no potential danger in case of cars running into the wall, as the wall wi ll be yieldable so that rough impact effects on the colliding vehicles wi ll be avoided.

It is desirable that the growth substance should be adaptable to widely different kinds of growing vegetation and that water raining on the plantation wall should not wash away the growth material or give rise to the material collapsing in the wall, whi le it

is also desirable that the rain water be retained to such a degree that an organized watering of the plan¬ tation wall will not be required. The plantation wall should be mountable at places where it is not depending of self-suction of water from the underlying ground, though such suction, when actual or possible, should of course be permissible if it will not damage the growth substance. Moreover it will be advantageous if the bale material is usable as a lawn base material. There is already known various construction concepts of plantation walls, but none of these shows up a material composition which will satisfy all of the aforementioned conditions. However, with the use of a basic growth material composition as specified in claim 1 such an ideal solution wi ll be created, and it will even be possible to uti lize this composition in a "loo ^' se" condition. ^* _'

For a better understanding of what is meant by the single ingredients and of the background of their use the following remarks should be made:

In claim 1 the term "sphagnum" is used. This word is not indicative of the species of moss carrying the name sphagnum, but of a partly decomposed (composted) organic material originating mainly from .trees and plants, the material being found mainly in moors. The term

'decomposed' is here used in the sense "reduced to vege¬ table mould". The term 'peat soil' refers to a deep lying material in the moor or bog; this material may be en irely black and is finely structured and partly largely decomposed, while sphagnum appears in the upper moor layers and is only partially decomposed. The age of sphagnum is of the magnitude of some hundreds of years, 'peat litter ¹ designates a material which is decomposed more than sphagnum and is found in the intermediate moor layers. The moss species called sphagnum is found in

moor material which is under decomposition. In English 'sphagnum' is o-ften called "peat moss", in German "Torfmull", in Danish/Swedish "sphagnum" and in Russian "novobalt". This is worth mentioning because the sphagnum resources are limited, such that imported materials wi ll often have to be used, and due to differences between the characters of local moors throughout the world there is a certain overlapping between the products. In the present connections explained in more detai l below, the consistencies of the products are important.

It wi ll be appreciated that for the purpose of the invention it is perfectly possible to make use of sphagnum substitutes, even of artificial origin, or a mixture of an artificial product and a natural product. It should be noted that at different places in one same moor rather different kinds of sphagnum may occur, also depending of geographic circumstances.

Thus, the purpose of the invention is obtained by the use of a mixture of different kinds of sphagnum. Lumpy sphagnum is essentially a decomposition product of grass or forest and is thus mostly based on roots. This kind of sphagnum is well suited to retain supp lied water .

Long-fibred sphagnum is a pronounced thready ma- terial having fibre lengths of some 5-20 cm. This type of sphagnum is rather hygroscopic, i.e. it attracts water and conveys the water well.

Fine sphagnum is more finely divided so as to provide for better mechanical support and contribute to a better, holding together of the other ingredients in the growth material.

The above materials wi ll finish their decomposition within a period of time which is shorter than the decom¬ position time of the two following ingredients. On the other hand, particularly when used in noise protecting

walls along roads the sphagnum has the advantageous effect of stopping road salt as splashed against the wall by the vehicles, whereby the sphagnum will pro¬ tect the interior of the plantation wall against the salt.

With the use of grass and straw as ingredients, or leguminous plants or the like, it is achieved that a material rich of nitrogen wi ll be present and that the nitrogen is present under conditions such that it will be liberated slowly, i.e. as a nutritious material it ill not be really effective unti l a late stage of the decomposition process. In this connection it should be mentioned that with the use of the invention in the Middle East area the sphagnum will provide for protection against not only road salt, but also certain other harmful substances, i.e. a slow decomposition of the only slightly decomposed or not yet decomposed material in the growth material will be ensured in a safe manner.- Another advantageously slowly decomposable and nutrition providing material is bark chips, i.e. cortex from trees worked into chips. This material has some of the same resistivity to road salt as mentioned for sphagnum, may be even more pronounced. Thus the roots of the vegeta¬ tion as planted in the material according to the invention will be well protected. ith the use of bark chips this will be true even when the vegetation has relatively short roots, such as for grass. Hereby the material according to the invention will be further advantageously usable for lawns, as mentioned, particularly near roads or other occasionally salted ares, where salt as well known destroys or essentially damages the grass growth, also along pavements etc. Bark chips are less rich in nitrogen than the aforementioned materials, but they contain relatively larger amounts of nutritive salts such as phosphorus and potassium.

Also according to claim 1, a certain mineral supply wi ll be required, and to this end materials such as sea grass and seaweed or sea wrack are suitable due to thei r high contents of iodine and boron,these elements, parti- cularly iodine, being growth promoting. All according to the geographical harvesting area some nutrition minerals may be missing, but by addition of such missing minerals to the material a well balanced nutritive and growth material according to the invention wi ll be obtainable. Should the growth material be used at an "acid" location a material such as lime may be added in advance, such that the pH-value in the wall may be kept at a sui¬ table level, e.g. as with the use of average materials from Danish average moors. However, the addition of lime should not be effected uncritically, as far instance lime from the Dolomites is slowlier reacting than other types of lime. Thence, a slowly Feacting lime may be preferable when the growth material is intended to be active over a long row of years. Apart from its already mentioned advantage the long- fibred sphagnum shows a further advantage if or when cross connection elements through the growth material in a plantation wall are used, because this type of sphagnum wi ll diminish the risk of the growth material sinking in the wall. Such cross connections are not always requi red, but when they are used, holes in the material underneath them wi ll be avoidable.

The growth material is only moderately self- sucking, this due to the contents of bark chips, but also of e.g. sea wrack, which conditions the material to hold a considerable volume of air. It also contritutes to a relatively slow deco post i on, isofar as sphagnum easi ly g.ets rather wet, whereby rainwater and some better self-sucking capacity would cause the growth material

to become too wet; water in sp.hagnum promotes the decomposition or reduction thereof to humus, and the invention will thus provide for a comparatively slow decomposition of the materials. In the known nutritive growth materials over¬ growing by or overgrowing components of hypomycetes are often seen. Because of the material according to the invention being relatively less acid the risk of overgrowing by hypomycetes will acid the risk of overgrowing by hypomycetes will be small or almost entirely eliminated.

As far as the further materials are concerned it should be mentioned that rush (Juncus) and oak do not only grow slowly, they are also only slowly decomposed in the earth. When the growth material is desired to be operative during a very long time it may thus be advantageous to use these components or corresponding substitute components in the material. Lumpy sphagnum may contain non-decomposed wood in the central areas of the lumps, i.e. also the lumpy sphagnum wi ll contribute to a long-term operation of the material according to the invention.

For further specifying a growth material accor¬ ding to the invention claim 2 specifies such a material, which is particularly suitable for plant vegetation with woody roots, such as ivy, cotoneaster and hydrangea, over a long row of years. Here the relative contents of the ingredients a) and b) are bigger than in the composition claimed in claim 3, the latter being adapted for more plant-like vegetation such as strawberry and summer flowers.

The invention is described in more detail in the following with reference to the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective general view of a bale of a nutritive and growth material according to the i nvent ion.

Fig. 2 is an end view of a lissom support member for such ba les,

Fig. 3 is a lateral view of the support member of fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a further end view of the support member, Fig. 5 is a side view of a support structure for bales of the growth material, including support members according to figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the bale of fig. 1, provided with a netting 2 and 3 on both sides, Fig. 7 is a plan view of such a nettin, Fig. 8 is a plan view of further detai ls of a support member according to f gs. 3 and 4, Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a support system according to fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a modified support arrangement for bales,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a bale for use in the arrangement of fig. 10, Fig. 12 is a top view of the arrangement according to fig. 10, i llustrating both a bale fi lled section and a section as being fi lled with bales, and Fig. 13 is a plan view of the finished arrangement of fig. 12. A bale unit of the material according to the invention is shown in fig. 1 and is designated 1. The bale is shown as being plate shaped, i.e. with a small thickness rela¬ tive its other dimensions. The invention is not limited to such thin bale shapes, but these show certain advan- tages, as already indicated.

The bales 1 may well be produced with any arbitrary shape, e.g. as a part of a ball or a part of a ball, cone or cylinder shell etc., or as a part of a poly¬ gonal structure, including a bevelled shaping with planar or curved facettes. A limitation as to the

shaping may rather be associated with the compaction equipment as used fo-r the production of the material bales or bodies. Even figures will be produceable, and the associated advantages will be clear from the foregoing.

Thus, it is advantageous that a thin plate bale is ountable, placed e.g. vertically or in an inclined manner resting on a narrow edge surface, laterally rested against support means, which may be lissom. Fig. 2 illustrates relevant cross sectional shapes of a suitably lissom support member, which s composed of two angular profi les 4 and 5, which may consist of a durable material such as plastic, including fibre reinforced plastic. The two angular profiles 4,5 are interconnected by means of cross connector elements These, as shown, could be constituted by an adequate number of bolt and nut connectionsό, but they could also be pro ided by glueing, e.g. by spot-glueing at interspaced glueing spots, whereby a suitably lissom, slender and flexible design of the support means will be achieved. When the support elements are made of plastic they wi ll be easily transportable, as their weight ill be smaller than for corresponding elements made of metal. Fig. 2 does not actually show a cross section of the elements 4, 5, but rather an end view thereof. However, a cross section would show the same contour of the element.

Support members 4, 5 are shown in a lateral view and in an assembled condition in fig. 6, in which the numeral .7 designates holes adapted for the fastening of the support members 4, 5 to other support elements as i llustrated, e.g. in fig. 5. Fig. 4 is similar to fig. 2, but it refers to fig. 3 and is placed near this figure for the sake of clarity.

In fig. 5 support members 4, 5 are arranged in a frame structure, and they hold a netting 2 for better support of one ^' or more bales. Fig. 5 indicates but a , single bale 1, but more bales could be placed side by side or mounted with their narrow ends abutting or overlapping each other, i .e. mutually staggered, e.g. in the transverse di rection, normal to the side planes of the bales. The holes 7 as shown in fig. 3 are here used for receiving joining means such as bolts or screws cooperating with nuts or the like. Fig. 6 is a cross sectional top view of a bale 1, viz the bale as seen through the netting 2 in f g. 5.

As mentioned the netting may be arranged inside the bale 1, e.g. i mediately inside the other surface thereof or in the central portion of the bale. Apart from its supporting and _. protecting function the netting 2,3 may even serve the purpose of holding the roots of the plants as growing in the bale material, should this be requi red or desi red.

In fig. 7 is shown a netting 2 which could be incorporated in a bale 1 or serve as a lateral support therefor. The netting may be quite simple. It could be subdivided, and it could be more concentrated or tight at some areas, both along the length thereof and according to its position outside or inside the bale.

Fig. 8 shows a support unit comprising two sets of support members 4, 5, which are interconnected by stays 9 secured to the support members 4, 5 in a more or less rigid manner by suitable joining means 10. This construction may be known per se but all according to the rigidity of the joints it wi ll here be usable for achieving a suitably adapted flexibi lity of the connection between the

the support members 4, 5.

As shown in fig. 9 two support units according to fig. 8 are ^' secured to foundation blocks 11 and aee interconnected by means of flexible rods 12. Bales 1 of a suitably adapted size may be introduced into this structure, e.g. from above between the rods 12. When the bales 1 and 2 are brought to touch each other and the lowermost bale or bales are brought to touch underlying soil or other material (not shown) the bales wi ll be able to function as self-dependent units, the self-sucking capacity of which relative the underlying soil is less important compared with the prior art, when only the wall is mounted out¬ doors, where just some rain is likely to occur. Accor- ding to the circumstances all or some of the rods 12 may be omitted.

Upon being compacted the bales 1 are easily wrapped in a suitable bag, e.g. of plastic. By the shipping of the bales it may be essential that they are not incidentally wetted, e.g. by rainwater.

It will be appreciated that the components of the material according to the invention are easily accessible. In the material may be incorporated e.g. chaff of a suitable straw product, in addition to or substituting the sea wrack and/or the sea grass. Use of the growth material bales in a lying position of the bales may be advantageous in sandy regions.

A plantation wall is easy to assemble, and its various parts may be provided as an assembly set of preadapted components.

The binding agent should preferably be a nutrient. Organic binding agents may be wallpaper pate, gelatine etc . The described embodiment is well suited in connec¬ tion with the mounting of a bale shaped growth material between opposite net walls in a wall structure, in

which the parallel net walls are interconnected at internals and supported by rigid posts, whereby the support means may be of a lightweight design.

Another embodiment, however, supplements the first embodiment in two important respects, viz. 1) by the provision of the prepressed growth material bales and 2) by an improved support construction for the nettings, between which the bales ^' are pi led up for forming a noise subduing plantation wall: A material mi ture as already indicated is compressed into about the half of its natural volume, and the resulting, substantially box-shaped bales are stabilized by wrapping them into a fine- meshed net material such as a hose-shaped plastic net having meshes of some 1 cm2. Alternatively the box-like bale shape may be stabilized by the use of binding agents mixed into the material or spplied to the surface of the bale. The main purpose of the compression is to make the rather coarse mixture physically well suited as a growth medium and to stabilize the material against collapsing or sinking in the final, piled condition of the bales.

The bales are compressed into such dimensions that they w ll be usable as filling moduli in an associated support construction. It has been found that the support construction may advangeously be more rigid than according to the already described example, and such an improved construction is illu¬ strated in figs. 10-13: The plantation and /or sound wall of figs. 10-13 comprises two opposed net sides, which are secured to resp ctive opposed side edges of a row of crosswise disposed, semi-heavy plate posts 22, which are pre¬ ferably profiled with bent-out edge portions. Each post 22 is rigidly anchored to a concrete block in the

ground. The posts are mutually spaced a whole multiple of the length of the pressed bales ⁽ fig. 11), while the width of the posts corresponds to the width of the bales. For erecting the wall it is preferred to first sedure the netting at one side to the posts, then piling up the bales against this netting, and there¬ after fixing the bales by mounting the netting at the other side. The erection of relatively high walls may suitably be effected in two or more stages with the use of netting elements of a correspondingly limited height.

Preferably network units are used, the lengths of which are closely adapted to the spacing between the posts. It has been found advantageous that these network units or elements be preshaped with inwardly bent wire end portions, which may engage with the respective rear or outer sides of the two associated posts, such as it is shown in fig. 10. Upon the mounting of a netting element in this manner the wires of the element adjacent the front side of each post are clamped against the said front side by means of a clamping strip 24, which is screwed against the front side of the post. The bent in wire end portions will establish a very firm pull connec¬ tion with the posts, whereby the net sides ill stand as very firm or stable walls.

The illustrated inward bending of the w re ends along the horizontal edges of the netting elements serves the purpose of making sure that on the out- sides of the wall structure there will be no exposed wire ends, which could give rise to tearing or invite to wanton destruction activity.

For preventing outfall of the material through the rather open meshes in the netting walls and par¬ ticularly for counteracting manual picking out of the growth material the new walls are preferably provided ith an interior cover net material, e.g. a semi-heavy plastic net having meshes of some 2 x 2 cm. As at ready mentioned the bales may be prepressed and wrapped in a more fine-meshed net material, but such a wrapping material wi ll not normally be strong enough to resist mechanical attacks.

The support posts 22 wi ll consitute separating, rigid internal partitions invol ing the advantage that by repairs or when through-passages are desi red in the said partitions these may be arranged for with- out influencing the adjacent lengths of the plantation and/or sound wall.

The term "lissom" as used in the foregoing should be understood in its widest sense _A i .e. as flexible as well as slim etc.