Topic: Raised Beds & Horse Manure

[Dinu]

Hi

Last year I got a allotment plot for my elderly parents to help get them some exercise. I'm new to growing fruit and veg but after doing some reading I double dug the entire plot. Given my parents age they found it a little hard to manage the plot. So last week I built them raised beds with the intention of making it easier for them. I have not covered the bottom of the raised beds as many sites recommend as I feel like I would not be utilising the great soil I have created underneath if I did so. So the first question I have is do I really need to cover the bottom of the raised beds when my soil is already really productive underneath?

This leads to my second question. I have ordered a large truck load of horse manure from a local farm. My parent are not able to grow during the winter. So my idea was to put the horse manure on all the beds and cover the beds (apart from those I intend to grow root vegetables on) with black plastic over the winter so it is ready for my parents in the spring. The problem is the manure is not completely composted/rotted down. Do I need to put the manure in one large pile and allow it to compost over winter before adding it to the beds even though there is nothing growing in the beds until next spring. Or as I intended am I OK to put the fresh manure directly in the beds, dig it in, and use the cultivator and then cover the beds up with black plastic until spring. I hoped by then the fresh manure I had dug in would have rotted down. 

I would greatly appreciate some help. Thanks

[BarriedaleNick]

Hi Dinu and welcome to the site!

Personally I have never covered the bottom of my raised beds - I just pile on the manure, compost, leaves whatever and dig it in a bit.  I guess it may help with water retention but I don't bother and mulch what I can
The second question does really depend on how rotted it is (or isn't).  If it were really fresh I would pile it up, cover it and let it rot down a bit for use next year.  If it were really rotted I would just pile on to the beds, dig in or just leave it to the worms and nature to do it's stuff.  As long as it isn't really hot and fresh it should be fine to add direct to the beds.

[Duke Ellington]

Hi Dinu,

I have raised beds on my allotment and never covered the bottom of mine. At the end of summer when the clearing of the plot starts I remove weeds and like Nick I layer on manure or compost or leaf mold and leave it to the worms.  I then cover my beds with plastic over the winter. I am guessing you are thinking of covering the base with cardboard?. I didn't need to do this as I thoroughly weeded my beds. if you have good well dug over soil I feel there is no need for a covering on the base.

Duke

[Dinu]

Thank you very much for your replies. Just to be clear you are advising that I leave the fresh horse manure in a pile to compost first before adding them to the beds.  I was under the impression that the fresh horse manure would compost in the beds over winter as well, and the ammonia feom the dreah/hot manure should not pose a problems there will not be any plants on the beds. The beds will be covered in plastic which I thought would help the composting. And by the time I plant in the beds in spring the manure will have fully composted.

Thanks

[Fork]

I recently collected some horse manure from a local stables. This stuff was so well rotted it did not smell at all and was completely weed free.....needless to say I'm back there this weekend to bag some more up.

I would say the well rotted the better unless you want to store it for a while. Horse manure can contain quite a lot of seed from what the horses have been eating if its really fresh.

[Tee Gee]

I was under the impression that the fresh horse manure would compost in the beds over winter as well, and the ammonia feom the dreah/hot manure should not pose a problems there will not be any plants on the beds. The beds will be covered in plastic which I thought would help the composting

I agree with this entirely I have done it for years and it works for me.

As I see it it takes around six months to rot down in the heap and I won't be planting for six months so what's the difference?

The thing I find best about digging it in now is, the soil is fit for digging something it might not be in spring.

Plus the fact I am not usually as fit and supple in spring as I am now so I can gradually work my self into fitness rather than having to rush and get my plots prepared then.

I also find my soil is just right for brassicas this way as it has all winter to naturally compact rather than treading plants in as some people do!

Another thing is; I never cover the beds I leave them for the frost to get into,plus I haven't created a haven for slugs and snails and the birds can get at any weed seeds that are lying on the surface.

But it is each to their own!

[Deb P]

I have tried both covering and leaving uncovered my raised beds post manuring and now only do the latter. The plastic covered beds left me with a hard dried out layer of manure that was a nightmare to dig in, and there were a lot of mollusc baddies hiding in it too, and a wasps nest!

I heavily manure mine in autumn then fork it over in spring, agree with TeeGee you have to wait for the right dry days but having half my plot as raised beds means it's usually drier than level ground and I can take it easy doing a set number each session so my back doesn't seize up!

[sparrow]

I only have raised beds and would put the manure in now and dig/fork it in. I left it on the surface one year and it set for me too. Wasn't fun digging it in.

[BarriedaleNick]

I always thought that leaving the manure on a bed over winter or digging it in would just cause a lot of nutrients to be leached out.

I tend to pile mine up and cover it.  I give the beds a rough dig and leave them, then come the spring I have a nice pile of well rotted manure that has cooked down and hasn't lost any goodness after a long wet winter.

My soil isn't exactly fit for digging now either - it was like a rock when I got my spuds out.  There is a period of a bout two days in spring when it goes from a sticky clay mess to something digable - then it goes back to concrete.  That's when I spread my muck!