Row Cover Management of Field-Grown Cercis canadensis and Lagerstroemia (indica x fauriei) ‘Muskogee’

Field-grown Cercis canadensis and Lagerstroemia (indica x fauriei) ‘Muskogee’ with or without trickle irrigation and three row cover management systems, including a summer leguminous cover crop, pine bark mulch or bare cultivation, were evaluated. Cercis plants grown with lespedeza clover as a row cover had less plant growth than those bare cultivated or mulched with pine bark, even with supplemental irrigation. Mulched plots exhibited higher stomatal conductance rates attributable to high canopy temperatures. Lagerstroemia plants with no cover grew as well as those with a cover of mulch or clover, when sufficient water was available from either rainfall or irrigation. Clover interplantings decreased the height and number of branches in Lagerstroemia without supplemental irrigation, but did not affect the water relations significantly.