Abstract: A comparative study was made on the growth parameters of sod establishment system with municipal solid waste compost and garden soil as the media. The results showed that the fibre root numbers of Poa pratensis and Agrostis stolonifera were significantly fewer on compost than on soil medium, and the single plant’s net primary production of turfgrass for Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne was significantly higher on compost than on soil medium. For the same cultivar, there was little difference (P>0.05) in the other growth parameters between the two media. The tensile strength of sod was primarily depended on sod netting properties, being about 10 kg for all of test sods. For the four turfgrass cultivars, the sessile state of sod roots with medium and netting had the order of F. arundinacea>L. perenne>P. pratensis>A. stolonifera from strong to weak. In sod laying, there were differences in the ecological cooperativity of cultivar, medium, and netting between the sods on the two different media. The turfgrass growth after sod laying was closely relevant to that in sod culture, i.e., the better in sod culture stage, the better in sod laying stage. After sod laying, the turfgrass with compost as the media had much better- lustrous effect. The synthetical properties of compost medium sod were accorded with sod culture requirement, and some properties were better than those of soil medium sod.

Key words: Grassland, Desertification, Soil C and N degradation