Help with deciding on horse manure and how to use with veggie beds.

8 years ago

I have just come across a local stable that will be selling 3 yr old horse manure. It is mixed with sawdust shavings, not cedar, can't remember what wood they use. What are your thoughts on this? What risk is there for the weed seed?

I am building raised veggie beds and a greenhouse that will total approximately 12+ yds volume. My soil is very sandy, even a bit of gravel mixed so I am looking to cheaply beef it up. 100% compost locally is $45/yd. This aged horse manure/compost is $10/yd. Sounds like a great option and I think I've found a small dump truck that can deliver up to 6 yds. in a single load for $70.

How much would you mix to start the beds off? I plan on using 2x10's. I want to be planting right away as the season to plant around here is now! Being 3 yrs old I assume there will be no burn issues. Can I mix 50/50? I'll be hiring a bobcat to dump the dirt and compost/manure into the beds, then I will mix the 2 together.

Any advice/info will be appreciated!

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Comments (3)

grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Don't know where you are, but keep in mind what I say comes from a hot and super dry climate. I use a LOT of horse manure. Local manure gets sopped up with all sorts of different materials, mostly whatever wood shreds the stable can buy cheaply. Ten dollars a yard is a good price for what you describe.

No weeds. Ever. I also let it all sit (most is considerably fresh!) for a long time before using with food plants, although I have planted flowers in very fresh manure and never see "burning". Burning is just one hazard of using fresh manure; the other is pathogens, real or not, but you gotta be safe with fresh stuff.

This stuff here sits on fill sand left over from construction nearly fifty years ago. Haven't worked my way over to the clay/caliche areas much yet. It's laid on straight, maybe three to five inches a year because of lots of shrinkage. I don't dig, but it gets mixed with the sandy stuff anyhow through planting and pulling and burying of garbage.

But no weeds. Ever.

Manure loses its N fast! It gasses off, especially if you let it dry out. One other thing to consider when using manure, mixed in or not, is the products of breakdown leach down into the sand and that's where the plant roots go too. These leached breakdown products, humus and larger colloids, are what make the minerals in the ground available to the plant roots. They will get there! If adding manure to sterile sand, one's first season may somewhat suck, plant nutrition-wise, but after some time one finds no need for much additional fertilizer, if at all.

Again, local conditions. But no weeds, ever. YMMV
kimmq
8 years ago
3 year old horse manure, if handled and stored properly, should not have viable "weed" seeds but it may not have the nutrients you think either. While manure is part of the organic material component of the soil mix it should not be the only part and vegetative waste, compost and other material, should be included.

A 50/50 mix of the mineral part of soil and manure might be achieved in a small raised bed but may not do what you think either if no vegetative waste is included in the mix, the sawdust will not be of much help holding moisture and nutrients in the soil mix.

http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/building-healthy-soil/5060.html

kimmq is kimmsr
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First of all, relax. I am in your zone and I regularly use LOTS of horse manure without any problem. The manure I get is mostly fairly fresh, but also some is in aged condition. I have, in the past, filled new raised bed frames with as much as 2/3 horse manure and 1/3 garden soil/compost/leaves etc. and have experienced no ill effects. NEVER have I seen anything "burned" from horse manure. Cow manure is a different story and that MUST be composted first, but horse is way milder. If I were you I would use all the stuff you have there (minus the black weed cloth) and either mix it together or leave it layered and top it off with some bagged garden soil or have some soil delivered depending on the size of your project, and plant away - you will be happy with the results. At the end of the season turn the mix and add more stuff (leaves, grass, scraps) and you will see that rich black soil coming your way. Another thing I might do is double dig instead of just piling layers on the surface, in order to mix some of the native soil in with your amendments, but you don't HAVE to as the worms will do this over time. Honestly, don't worry about the horse manure, it's fine.
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The first rule of gardening is to NEVER use fresh manure on a garden. It will burn the plants. I am hoping you used fully composted horse manure. If that is true, it's not a problem, and good for vegetables. The problem with the wood shavings is that it takes a lot of nitrogen to break them down, and may leave the compost nitrogen depleted. This is not a problem as long as you add a good source of nitrogen to your garden. Blood Meal is pure nitrogen that can be worked into the soil, and watered in. That should solve a low nitrogen issue. As for the weeds, well yes, horse manure may have a lot of weed seeds if the animal grazes. Composting the manure helps some, but many piles do not get hot enough to kill all weed seeds. What I would do is put down a good mulch, to prevent the sun from hitting the soil directly. No sun = no weed seed germination. I would suggest checking out Gardener's Supply Company. They have a lot of both fabric and paper mulching sheets. I have successfully used the paper sheets in a vegetable garden. You can walk on them, they will stop weeds, and it just composts away at the end of the season. Or perhaps the paper mulch found there will give you an idea of where to get a similar product locally. Some people use newspaper, but I've found that in order to pile it on thick enough to stop weeds, it's also thick enough to interfere with watering. Check it out. Mulch won't prevent all weeds, but it really helps.
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nancyjane_gardener
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When I start a new bed, I dig/fork down as deep as possible, add HM, water in, water in again until absorbed, top with the frame, lined with hardware cloth for gophers, add soil/compost, a few inches, water in, soil/compost water in etc.. Works for me! Nancy

Help with deciding on horse manure and how to use with veggie beds.

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grubby_AZ Tucson Z9

kimmq

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