[Debsie]

there are quite a lot of riders around where I live so often there are piles of horse manure in the road, is this ok to put straight onto my beds a bit later this month when they have been cleared, seems a shame to see it go to waste!!

[SUTTY1]

I'd give it a try if your not planting till next year and are not worried about any seeds that may be in it

[peterjf]

any free manure is worth putting on the plot ,

do you walk around with a bucket and shovel

[noshed]

The only thing you need to worry about with manure is that the ammonia can kill growing plants - hence the advice to rot it down first. If you're putting it on blank beds now you should be fine. If you've got any spare just pile it up and cover it with an old compost bag or something and it will rot down nicely for next spring.

[Debsie]

will now be seen around the village with wheelbarrow and spade trundelling behind all the horse riders!!

[binner]

how about politly asking where they keep the horses and could you take your barrow and do them a favour by taking it away?

[radiohead]

As above....most stables have more manure than they know what to do with....ask and they are only too happy for you to bag it up and take it away.....My daughter rides and each time she goes I fill a few bags from the back of the pile....lovely black rotted stuff.....it's no hardship and boy does it improve my soil.

[Pip Judgeford]

Pays to keep an eye on the soil pH as horse or donkey poo can create acidic conditions.

I often spread fresh horse poo in a layer on a vacant bed, layer of grass clippings (keeps down the flies) and then lime it.  A few weeks later when the whole shooting match is a bit more rotted I'll dig it over.  And depending whats going in the bed I may add a little more lime at that point.

A couple of years of this and your worm count should be through the roof!

I am particularly fond of donkey poo in those nice small uniform pellets.  Easier to handle and easier to disribute through soil and compost heaps than big gobs of fresh horse poo.  Gave a gardening friend a dozen pellets in an egg carton once...just cos I could!

-Pip

[Yorkie]

Interesting advice there Pip.  You're right about checking the pH of the soil.

The standard advice here in the UK is not to manure and lime at the same time as it causes a chemical reaction.

[Debsie]

good idea to ask at local stables, my daughters friend rides locally, i'm sure she would be happy to offfload some

[Pip Judgeford]

Interesting advice there Pip.  You're right about checking the pH of the soil.

The standard advice here in the UK is not to manure and lime at the same time as it causes a chemical reaction.

ohmy: .  I use dolomite lime (ie crushed lime rock - oatmeal coloured fine grit not a powder), which has a slower release of lime/calcium, which may be why its works OK?  Also the lime goes on the grass layer, not directly on the horse poo.  I dont use use the activated lime (white powder) as I find it gives a quick but not lasting change to the pH.

Pip

[Kristen]

I think the issue with Lime + Manure is that the Lime converts the Nitrogen in the Manure to Ammonia, which is a gas and thus escapes - so some/much? of the Nitrogen benefit of the manure is lost. I don't think its going to explode or anything like that!

So you might be losing some of the Nitrogen ... or maybe not with the grass (that will be taking some too whilst it rots down), or maybe not because of the slow-release ...

[DD.]

I manured and limed at the same time a few years back.

Never seen spring cabbage grow so fast. Problem was they'd all bolted by October.

[JayG]

My understanding is that ammonia released by the interaction of lime and manure will only be lost at or near the soil surface, underground the ammonia will dissolve in the soil water where it will be converted back into nitrates.

On that basis sprinkling lime on top of manure would be a bad idea, a deep layer of manure on top of lime not so bad, one or other (or both) dug into the soil the best idea!