If the manure was already well rotted, you should be able to plant immediately.

You're right in assuming that the burning should only occur with fresh manure.

"(GardenWeb wouldn't let me write the full word!)"

Actually, if you read the TOS carefully, if they get picky, the substitution you made could be considered a viloation as well.

You should wait 4 to 6 weeks after tilling soil before planting to give that soil time to settle some. Tilling introduces large amounts of air that will not be good for plant growth. You could speed that time up some by watering the beds well, but the reason you do not plant right away in tilled soils is the amount of air you introduce.

Any time that you transplant bare root plants- step on the graound around the transplant and then water HEAVILY to settle the soil around the roots. Then- water again. No waiting required, IMO.

Wouldn't stepping around the holes cause bad soil compaction?

I guess if you are concerned about compaction, you could slowly add "layers" of soil back to the planting hole and compress the soil FIRMLY with your hands and water between each layer. With bare root, you need to insure that all of the roots are in VERY good contact with the soil. You don't have to be concerned about this with potted specimens because their roots are not cured and dried out. They are planted with the existing soil ball intact. If your soil is such that it is prone to compaction, then amendments to the backfill soil might be in order.

Those are just my thoughts.....

Kristi

"Wouldn't stepping around the holes cause bad soil compaction?"

No, as long as the soil isn't wet. Air spaces around roots are worse than a little compaction, which will lessen as OM is digested anyway. If you wait for the soil to settle BEFORE planting- it'll just get disturbed when you dig a hole to plant later anyway.

As long as the soil isn't in huge clumps, it seems to settle right around bare roots if you lay it in gently and gradually around them. Watering then closes any remaining air spaces. I'd never step on soil or press firmly on it, though that may be in part because mine is mostly clay. Here soil that's compacted tends to stay compacted.

If you already have the plants I'd set them out in a week or at most two, watering once or twice in between if nature hasn't done so. Sitting in the fridge will do them more harm than shifting a bit as the soil settles.

In fact the weather here is very wet at the moment, so it will be impossible to plant for a while - and the heavy rain will help the soil to settle. The roses that have so far arrived (more to come next week) I have just roughly heeled in elsewhere in the garden till conditions are right for planting. It remains very mild, though (apparently our mildest autumn ever, currently in the low 50s F day and night), so the soil should be warm enough to encourage root growth for quite a while yet.