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Horse Manure

• Message 1.Ìý

  Posted by sazacb (U3407451) on Saturday, 14th May 2011

  Sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question but . .
  I have a garden in desparate need of some sort of organic matter/ compost as the soil is dry and poor. I also have a pony. Can I just add the manure to my garden and dig it in or does it have to go through some sort of magical maturing process first?
  Any advice gratefully received!
  

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• Message 2

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  Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Saturday, 14th May 2011

  Sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question but . .
  I have a garden in desparate need of some sort of organic matter/ compost as the soil is dry and poor. I also have a pony. Can I just add the manure to my garden and dig it in or does it have to go through some sort of magical maturing process first?
  Any advice gratefully received!
  Ìý I do remember my parents putting fresh horse manure round roses but if you have a bare area I would spread it on there and fork it in -the worms etc would do the rest - the alternative would be to stack the manure and use in the autumn/ winter and spread it in on beds then.

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  Posted by northwards (U14324094) on Saturday, 14th May 2011

  Yes, it's not a good idea to use fresh manure on plants. There are too many harsh chemicals in it (like ammonia) which can burn plants. There's no magic about the maturing process - it's just that the nasty stuff gets broken down over time
  
  Also - this may be an old wive's tale, so I apologise if it's wrong, but when growing up in America I was always told to keep my tetanus injections up to date if I had to handle fresh manure. Not sure if tetanus is as much of a problem in the UK

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  Posted by Happy Violas (U13861656) on Saturday, 14th May 2011

  Not an old wive's tale ... everyone should have up to date tetanus jabs when handling soil!

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• Message 5

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  Posted by horththit (U13862695) on Monday, 16th May 2011

  Hi there,
  I live beside horses so am using it all the time. Well rotted manure is what you want, when it has no smell and doesn't resemble manure at all. It takes at lweast 12 months to get to that stage. If you use it too fresh, it will burn the roots of plants. You can use it immediately around roses and rhubarb, but don't let it touch the stems. We make a heap every year and cover it with tarpaulin to stop the weeds. There's nothing like it for conditioning soil, but you still need to use fertilizer. And yes, it is best put on at the back end and left to overwinter. Marvellous soil in the spring!

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  Posted by sazacb (U3407451) on Tuesday, 17th May 2011

  thanks very much for all the helpful responses!

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• Message 7

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  Posted by linda (U1797657) on Thursday, 19th May 2011

  You lucky thing! Bear in mind though, it should be well rotted down. Once it's been through the composting process it will have reached temperatures high enough to kill off the bugs. Fresh manure has its nitrogen mainly in soluble form and this will wash out when it rains. If you leave it to compost the nitrogen will be trapped and released more slowly - much better for your plants.
  
  And if you have any spare and live near Chesterfield give me a shout and I'll pop round!

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