Nothing beats the facts.

1) What does the bag say? Composted manure?

If it is composted manure, then do whatever you want with it.
I suspect that if it is bagged, it is composted/aged and therefore probably ok unless opening the bag knocks you down with the odor.

Some people will insist that you must till things into your soil and others will insist that you must not. Definitely gonna confuse you but don't worry to much, it's compost, you can't really break it.

Here is what I do, mainly because I'm lazy. I spread compost and manure on top and then cover it over with mulch and keep moist. I've done lots of the lasagna gardening too. Spreading lots and lots of cardboard then layering compost and composted manure on top along with mulch, leaves etc. Then I keep it moist (not sopping wet but nicely moist.) Garden has been doing great.

If you already have plants in some of the beds, you don't want to be digging around in them anyway. Any beds that have nothing in them yet, do whatever you want and see how it works. It will help you decide from your own experience what works for you in your location.

Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx

Whomever would write "that manure and compost should not be dug into the soil, but spread on top" is not someone to listen to. Whether to dig that into the soil or use that material for mulch depends on a number of things first being what condition is your soil in now, how bad is it and how much immediate immprovement does it need? Then it also depends on the soil type, sandy soil seldom really needs organic matter worked into them while some, few, clay soil will.
Because of the potential for disease pathogens all manure (even the bags of "composted" manure from a garden shop) should be composted before being used on or in your garden, especially if food crops are being grown. There is no geed reason to wait until fall to spread finished compost on your garden, it can go on now, on the soil as a mulch, although it is best to cover compost with another material to help conserve moisture in the compost that will keep the bacteria working.

The soil here at the house is gross clay. Hard as cement when dry, oozes through your fingers when wet. Takes a long time to drain. Had a Ph done, and it was about 6.5-6.7. Will get a more in depth analysis in the spring.

The flower bed I dug, without any OM, has had a few plants die off. Not from the soil, but from water. I have removed the dead plants and still have quite a few that are doing well. My thought was to remove the mulch from the dead plant areas, mix in the bag of poop, layer with compost and replace the mulch. I will replant flowers in the spring. But, listening to kimmsr, I may put the bag of poop into the compost pile, let it sit for awhile, then in the fall, do what I said above.

kimmsr, and anybody else who wants to weigh in, what would make you dig compost into the soil as opposed to spreading it on top? I have read many older posts on this forum, going back awhile, and there seems to be people with both opinions. Not trying to open a can of worms, but since I am new to gardening, I thought I would ask.

The compost that you buy in bags from a garden center is already at the stage where it can be used safely in any manner of gardening. It is already composted and need not be given over to a pile for further breakdown.
Composted cattle or sheep manure is bought regularly for use as a soil amendment. Just mix it with the soil presently there and go to town with whatever use you have in mind.

Whether you wish to pile a 1/2" or 1" on top of muclh is up to you....the easiest way to use the compost for what it is designed to do is to pull the mulch back and apply the compost. If you wish, dig it in, by hand or cultivator--or leave it and let the worms come up and pull it down.
Then bring the mulch back over it. It depends on whether you have an immediate use of the soil. The bag of composted cattle manure is safe enough that you can put new plants directly into it without fear of burning.

But, read the directions for use on the bag's label.

I take dried cow manure directly from the pasture and place it around plants as a slow release compost . It has never burned anything .
We are currently in the full blast of summer with incredible heat and drenching rains here in Florida . What works for me may not apply to your area at all .
The best way to know what works in your own gardens and yard is to experiment . Try this and try that and only then will you know what is best for you personally . Go for it !

I agree, if it's bagged and from a store, it is ready to use. I would probably just scatter some of it around each plant, and if I had time and energy, pull back some mulch and layer it in there and re-cover with mulch.
Clay soil will improve with regular use of compost and mulching.

I would have to look closely at the soil to determine whether or not to till compost in. There are some clays that will not interact with what is layed on the surface and that material will simply stay on the surface of that clay. However, if some organic matter is tilled into those types of clays then the soil bacteria will move between the OM on the surface and in the soil and then move that OM into the soil for you, but they seem to need that atarter tilling. Most other clay soils I've worked with do not do that, although working some OM into even those can, sometimes, speed incorporation.
Given that today we know, and are seeing more often, that disease pathogens such as E-Coli and salmonella and others are becoming more and more of a problem, and given that we know that most often these pathogens are coming from manures, does it make much sense to keep on saying that my grandfather always put manure on his garden so I will too? Compost all animal manure before putting it on the garden.

Interesting logic there kimmsr. Of course, considering most E-coli infections come from tainted water sources and not direct manure application, I suppose you also suggest we stop using water just because grandpa did it. Or are you saying we should boil all water before applying it.

E-coli and Salmonella infections are rare from manure applications on soil, especially in advance like in the fall. It occurs by spraying it on the plant when the fruit has developed or applying it on the ground where developed fruit lies. It's one good reason to keep the food off the ground. It's usually on the outside of the fruit unless there is an entry point. It doesn't come from the roots, through the plant, and into the fruit. Also, E-coli infections are usually found to be originally caused by contamination that comes from sewage not on the garden or field. Sometimes it's from troubles at waste water treatment facilities. Sometimes it's from flooding which causes huge overflows of our sewage systems and factory farm waste systems. Sometimes it's from farms outside the US that don't have to abide by the guidelines US farmers have to (China, Mexico, all South America) and so they use human waste to fertilize. Sometimes it comes from poop floating in a pool (happened in Indy). It's amazing how very rare you see in the news that the culprit was from using manure to fertilize. In fact, if anyone here is able to direct me to a verified recorded outbreak caused by using animal manure to fertilize, please do so. Everything I find is advice based on potential, not based on real happenings.

I was sent an e-mail from another member that doesn't post here anymore telling me to avoid getting sucked into arguments with a few of those on here that spread bad info after some bad info was found in another thread that I chose to dispute with logic and experience apparently shared by others. Only one name was mentioned, though. Guess who? Of course, names of good advice givers were also given. I'm sure I'm not the only one that is wary of anyone arrogant enough to claim you shouldn't listen to someone that uses a different method of farming/gardening. Especially when that method is proven to be quite beneficial. Plenty of people all over the world use the method you (kimmsr) described as justification for not listening to them. It's called no-till. You apply directly on top. You don't disturb worms, unearth weed seeds, break irrigation tunnels made by decomposing roots and worms, you don't release nitrogen or the many greenhouse gases, disturb the "soil food web", etc. Breaking the soil to fertilize and weed also increases drought stress. Had you said "fresh manure" I wouldn't have paused. The fact is there is evidence that no-till is much more advantageous and it has been written of a number of times in books, magazines (Mother Earth Magazine comes to mind first), and is found in various spots on the web. I am not going to cite sources as those sources are readily available to all with google.

lisatx04 - if I understand correctly, you have 2 separate questions: (1) is bagged store bought safe to use right from the bag and (2) dig it in or just lay it on top? Am I on track? ;)

Oh, and you aren't going to be growing food except tomato plants in it before spring, right?

So if we put all the personalities stuff aside for a minute:

(1) in theory, store bought bags are already composted and ready to use. BUT, some times they are stored poorly and as a result they can become too wet and turn anaerobic or too hot and stinky ripe.

Thus TC's comment about "if the odor knocks you back"... So when you open the bag, if it smells ok rather than overly ripe or rancid, it is safe to use without further composting. If however, it has that stinky "knock your sock off" odor, put it in your bin and let it sit mixed with some other ingredients till it mellows back out and then it is safe to use. If it smells ok but for some reason you can't get to it right away, then just mix it into your compost pile rather than leaving it sitting around in the bag.

(2) The answer depends on what you goal is. I think your goal is overall soil improvement in this case, right? Then it all depends on how fast you want soil improvement results and how much you want to work. If you are in a rush to improve the soil and you don't mind all the digging and turning - dig it and all your ready to use compost into the top 4-6 inches of your soil and do it now.

If you are in no particular rush and are not inclined to do unnecessary work (like me) them just take all your ready to use compost, mix in the manure (long as it smells ok) and spread the mix out in your existing beds and let the worms and the other members of the soil food web do the work for you. By late next spring you will see a marked improvement and by then you'll have even more compost ready to go.

It's your choice - either way works. ;)

Dave.

"considering most E-coli infections come from tainted water sources and not direct manure application"
Apparently you are unaware that the original source of the E-Coli is the manure, as is the original source of salmonella and many other of these types of disease pathogens. The E-coli bacteria, in all the forms known, is present in all animal manure including that of us humanoids.

Thank you Dave! You were right in all your assumptions. Yesterday, it was hot here and I did not want to "really dig in and get dirty" but I did work in the flower bed.

I went and moved the mulch aside in just a few spots and put my compost on top, then covered it with the mulch. Some was not fully broken down compost, some was, complete with the creamy white bugs. This bed I am not in a rush to "fix" (another correct assumption), as I will be making changes in the spring, so that is why I spread it on top, then covered with mulch.

My lasagna bed is small, and has some of my compost layered in. In the next week or two, it will be time to plant fall crop tomatoes, so I will be planting those with some basil plants.