Formation of stable soil-protective agrophytocenoses of essential oil plants in the conditions of the Southern Steppe of Ukraine

In the context of a significant environmental load on soil resources, the issue of restoring and maintaining the fertility of degraded and anthropogenically disturbed lands through phytoreclamation technology aimed at improving altered landscapes by creating a sustainable vegetation cover that can improve soil quality and restore its ecological functions is relevant. The aim of the study was to investigate the adaptive properties, growth and development processes, productivity formation and peculiarities of soil protection agrophytocenoses of English lavender and medicinal hyssop in anthropogenically transformed lands of the Southern Steppe of Ukraine. To achieve this goal, a field experiment was set up, phenological observations of plant development were carried out, and the peculiarities of the formation of soil-protective agrophytocenoses were studied. The survival rate of essential oil plants was high: English lavender – 89.7-92.5%, and medicinal hyssop – 85.9-90.5%. A high ability of lavender and hyssop to withstand adverse climatic conditions during wintering was found: during three years of cultivation, winter hardiness was 81.5-98.1%. Over the three years of vegetation, lavender plants formed shoots 50.7-51.3 cm high, the diameter of the bush was 62.4-89.6 cm, and the number of inflorescences was 594.9-650.3, which corresponds to their varietal characteristics. The highest yield of lavender plants was formed in the third year of vegetation – 5.29-5.84 t/ha at standard humidity. The maximum height of hyssop plants was reached in the third year of cultivation – 69.5-83.3 cm. The number of vegetative-generative shoots in the bush increased from the second year of vegetation, their number in the second year of cultivation was 54.5-67.1 pcs. and in the third year – 70.4-85.9 pcs. The highest yield of flower raw materials of hyssop was formed in the third year of cultivation – 10.94-12.43 t/ha. The highest rates of projective plant coverage were noted in the third year of cultivation: 75.2-83.7% in hyssop and 58.4-62.5% in English lavender, which allows to recommend the use of agrophytocoenoses of these essential oil plants for phytomelioration and reclamation of anthropogenically transformed territories in the Southern Steppe of Ukraine