Topic: horse manure query

[Arumlily]

I've been offered horse manure that have not been well rotted. Should I accept it please. If I do how long should I leave it before using them. I will be using my OH's car as transportation, will the smell be unbearable? Many thanks in advance.

[Kepouros]

Grab it.  Transport it in bin bags with their necks tied and it won`t smell too bad (especially if you drive with the windows open).  Stack it, water it and cover it and leave it until this time next year when it should be beautiful stuff.

[Arumlily]

thanks kepouros, and I've just realised I'd posted this message on the wrong section. Apologies to anyone who's upset about it.

[calendula]

you don't say what you are planning on using the manure for - because you could lay it on spare land and let it rot down into the land, the worms will do most of the work, or if you are planning on growing potatoes put it straight onto that area - that's what I do at this time of year when the manure starts coming in, place it where it will be needed  :)

[supersprout]

I'm with calendula - it either goes into the hot box or onto the soil :)

[Kepouros]

If you simply spread it out on the soil now and leave it, the worms will most certainly do a lot of the work, but so also will the rain.  By next spring almost all of the nutrients in the manure will have been washed through the topsoil and lost, while any half rotted straw will be washed clean of manure and remain half rotted.

If you spread it now you should cover it (with black polythene) to protect it.  Putting it in a hot box is fine for a small quantity if it is comparatively fresh, but if it is half rotted now it is unlikely to heat up again to any extent and the hot box has better uses.

I would add that I relied for many years solely on horse manure - I calculated that 10 round trips with a Morris Minor Traveller equalled a 2 1/2 ton load - and I found that stacking and covering it was by far the most effective method of dealing with it.

[Arumlily]

Thanks very much for all your tips and sound advice. I need it mostly for my veg plot at the lottie and flower beds.

[cambourne7]

i am leaving horse manure on the top of non-filled raised beds prior to covering with compost or in the bottom of a trench that i will be planting asparagus in next year. I still have spuds to lift and there is lots of worm activity so adding the horse manure then means that the worms are safeish from birds and break it down really well i have found it takes about a week to break down a big wheelbarrowfull before back filling.

I am hoping that come febuary they beds will be yummy!

[wahaj]

I've ordered some manure that should be arrived in a couple of weeks. um...the guy i ordered it normally does them for allotments but he wasn't very helpful. I'm paying £30 for about 3 tonnes. i'm sure that's a good price delivered to your door....but it's not going to be in bags. it is well rotted.

now....i think he plans to just tip it on the driveway.....and then i have to carry it into the garden with a wheel barrow......do you think that's wise? or should i have ordered bags elsewhere instead?

[supersprout]

sounds like you've done real well wahaj :D
from experience of similar:

tarp the area where the manure will be tipped to protect the ground
barrow straight away to its final position - plan ahead and brief helpers! - saves barrowing twice
use a good shovel

it takes No.1 son 2 hours to shift 4 tons of woodchips on his own, so can you get hold of a couple of fit m8s with barrows for an hour or so - one shovelling when the barrows go back and forth, then take turns?

your garden will love you for it ;)

[missy]

Where do you live wahaj (hope I got that right?) are you only paying for transportation and delivery?
I was wondering as horsey poo is something that people give away in abundance for free, where I live.
Could you find a free source in your area?
Just seems alot of money for alot of waste material, but then again where you live you may not have the access to it so easily.

from missy

[wahaj]

Where do you live wahaj (hope I got that right?) are you only paying for transportation and delivery?
I was wondering as horsey poo is something that people give away in abundance for free, where I live.
Could you find a free source in your area?
Just seems alot of money for alot of waste material, but then again where you live you may not have the access to it so easily.

from missy

yea....i live in a village called rothwell in northamptonshire...just off kettering. and considering the whole area is surrounded by fields...and horses and sheep and what not....no one i've rung up does manure to be taken away.

It is a lot of waste...but i guess so is compost really isn't it? but...it's nutrients for the soil. once that goes in...into my tiny little raised beds...i'm not gonna have to dig much else in there for a couple of years atleast.

[wahaj]

sounds like you've done real well wahaj :D
from experience of similar:

tarp the area where the manure will be tipped to protect the ground
barrow straight away to its final position - plan ahead and brief helpers! - saves barrowing twice
use a good shovel

it takes No.1 son 2 hours to shift 4 tons of woodchips on his own, so can you get hold of a couple of fit m8s with barrows for an hour or so - one shovelling when the barrows go back and forth, then take turns?

your garden will love you for it ;)

most of my mates would laugh at me if i told them that lol. I mean it took me just over an hour to shift a tonne of top soil...and that was only because it was packed into the bag and difficult to dig into. I'm assuming manure tipped on the ground would be easy to dig into with a fork and lifted onto a wheel barrow?

to be honest there isn't a long distance to shift it. the drive it next to the garden with a hedge between them.

and also...once i add the manure....what else do i have to add in there? I mean as i said i've already built up about 6 inches of ok quality top soil on my raised beds...and i'm gonna add atleast a 3-4 inches of manure to them.

[supersprout]

I'm assuming manure tipped on the ground would be easy to dig into with a fork and lifted onto a wheel barrow?

and also...once i add the manure....what else do i have to add in there? I mean as i said i've already built up about 6 inches of ok quality top soil on my raised beds...and i'm gonna add atleast a 3-4 inches of manure to them.

we elll wahaj, you'll get different advice from different peeps.
fork or shovel - depends on consistency and the amount of straw.
don't think you'll need to add anything else :o just avoid raw manure on areas you'll be growing roots (carrot, parsnip etc.) next year.
If you have loads, you could make a hot box for early spuds!

perfect day on the scrounge in the country today, collected seven FREE bags of pony poo from side of the road - 100% nuggets, no straw at all :P :D

[wahaj]

I'm assuming manure tipped on the ground would be easy to dig into with a fork and lifted onto a wheel barrow?

and also...once i add the manure....what else do i have to add in there? I mean as i said i've already built up about 6 inches of ok quality top soil on my raised beds...and i'm gonna add atleast a 3-4 inches of manure to them.

we elll wahaj, you'll get different advice from different peeps.
fork or shovel - depends on consistency and the amount of straw.
don't think you'll need to add anything else :o just avoid raw manure on areas you'll be growing roots (carrot, parsnip etc.) next year.
If you have loads, you could make a hot box for early spuds!

perfect day on the scrounge in the country today, collected seven FREE bags of pony poo from side of the road - 100% nuggets, no straw at all :P :D

nuggets lol.

well....i'm not gonna be growing any veg really...it's for the garden for...ornamental plants.

[wahaj]

got the manure today. it's lovely stuff. a lot of it has broken down into lovely crumbly black stuff....but some is still in clay like blocks. it's really nice and black and doesn't smell at all....so.

i've got about 4 inches allover my beds and it all looks lovely.

[Rosyred]

On my new plot I was thinking of using manure. At the moment its been grass shall I put fresh manure/straw on top and leave till next year and dig in? Will be fine for fruit won't it? And control the grass a bit too?

[okra]

I use horse manure, not well rotted, for spuds and they always seem to benefit but you have to put up with grass germination (free green manure)

[supersprout]

This area was the bean bed last year, now has fresh pony poo mulch (spent hops at the front) :)
Another row of mulch will go alongside this one.
Haven't decided on its future fate - may do beans there again, or squash, or spuds - depends how much space I have in the rest of the plot, and how far the pony poo has rotted down by planting time ::)

[Arumlily]

Are there any difference between horse manure with woodshavings and manure with sawdust. I have both, but was kind of concern when I read a post that mentioned with sawdust the ground gets water logged.