CHANGES IN THE BOTANICAL COMPOSITION OF LEGUME-GRASS STANDS IN THE AISLES OF AN APPLE ORCHARD WITH A SOD-HUMUS SYSTEM OF MAINTENANCE

The article presents studies of changes in the botanical composition of legume- cereal cultivated herbage in the aisles of an apple orchard after six years of use. As studies have shown, the competitive relations in the cenosis between species are determined by biological features. In the variant with the sowing of clover-timothy motley grass, 52.3% accounted for the share of meadow timothy and 37.6% for the share of red clover. The share of mixed grasses in this binary sowing accounted for 10.1% of the plants. In the variant with the sowing of meadow timothy and variable alfalfa, the plants of timothy prevailed 51.9%. The number of alfalfa plants was 46.1%, and mixed grass was 2.0%. Variable alfalfa also turned out to be a more stable crop compared to red clover, the number of which in crops was 46.8 %. The number of other species in binary crops of legumes with meadow fescue did not exceed 3.8 - 5.1%. In the sixth year of the experiment, there were significant changes in the botanical composition of the perennial vegetation in the rows of the garden. In cereals and legumes sown with various grasses, the share of meadow timothy decreased to 34.7 % in the variant with red clover sowing and to 32.3% in the variant with variable alfalfa sowing. At the same time, the share of field fescue increased to 62.7-63.9 %. Leguminous perennial grasses could not compete with cereal grasses. With annual multiple mowing of the aboveground mass, the share of the legume component sharply decreased. First of all, this applies to red clover. Its share in the grass mixture with the cereal component decreased to 0.3% in the mixture with meadow timothy and to 1.4% in the mixture with meadow fescue. The specific weight of variable alfalfa in crops with meadow timothy remained at the same level and amounted to 46.4% and decreased to 35.5% in crops with meadow fescue. There were also changes in the botanical composition in the binary crops of grasses. If at the beginning of the experiment in the phytocenosis is dominated by meadow timothy, then after six years, the greater proportion of plants had meadow fescue 57.2%. Under the conditions of repeated mowing of the aboveground mass of plants with a sod-humus system of soil content in the rows of the garden, the crops of perennial grasses with red clover were the least stable and short-lived. Sowing of meadow fescue with alfalfa changeable provided a stable phytocenosis that can exist for a long time.