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horse manure sink
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Posted by
austinkeller none (
My Page) on
Sun, Dec 30, 12 at 11:07
| would it be a bad idea to dig a hole a couple feet from a shrub, and bury a bucketful of semi-composted horse manure? Soil is poor and i am trying to create a nutrient pool that existing perimeter plants may draw from. Manure is far enough away from plants that i believe it will not saturate the root zones. My concept is like a manure IV, for a few plants at a time. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: horse manure sink
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The wrinkle will be that as the manure breaks down and is taken in by the surrounding soil life, the soil above will sink leaving a depression on the surface. I remember an arborist explaining to me a similar scheme using compost in trenches. I believe the idea was to keep feeding the trenches. The discussion was about dealing with hard pan conditions. Maybe some of the permaculture folks have an alternative scheme that would suit you better. to sense
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RE: horse manure sink
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That shrub may well have a root system that extends out there and putting that manure might cause damage to those roots. Once, not very long ago, people believed that a plants roots did not extend beyond the plants drip zone although today we know that is not true and a plants roots can extend way beyond that drip line.
Better would be to properly compost that manure and then spread it around the shrub, on top of the soil, and cover that with some mulch. The Soil Food Web will then work at moving that compost into the soil for you so you do not have to dig. |
RE: horse manure sink
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| I tend to agree that it would be better to use it as a surface mulch. That way it treats the entire area evenly. But you could do what you propose as long as 1) the manure is composted enough that it doesn't burn the plants, and 2) the number and size of holes into the root zone represent a small fraction of the entire root zone. You could pile the soil over the manure so when it sinks down it doesn't leave a hole. |
Or better yet
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| Or better yet, mix some of the soil into the manure and fill the hole with that. Then you'll actually have improved soil rather than bad soil surrounding a blob of organic matter. |
RE: horse manure sink
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| IMO a "nutrient pool that existing perimeter plants may draw from" is not the best way to go. What I do with horse manure is compost it until it's finished enough to use as top-dressing then spread it thinly over a large area. Sometimes a little is better than a lot. You might make manure tea to water plants with which would give many plants a nice boost of nutrients. |
RE: horse manure sink
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| Over time, especially if you have worms, surface mulches will be incorporated into the soil beneath. It takes years but the soil does improve. You can put down compost and cover it with mulch to keep it moist and reduce erosion, and it will find its way in. |
RE: horse manure sink
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| tox I have improved soil very well using that method. Every winter I mulch with crop residue and oak leaves. Work very well! |
RE: horse manure sink
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- Posted by corrine1 7b Pacific Northwest (My Page) on
Sat, Jan 12, 13 at 14:43
| Agree that it's best spread on surface like a sheet mulch. Let the worms work it through. If you have the chance to turn the pile a few times before spreading the partially composted manure is more appealing & when we've used it mixed with the pelleted sawdust bedding it makes a nice dark uniform mulch. When plants are dormant like now it's not a problem to spread fresher manures as long as the location isn't near your front door. |
RE: horse manure sink
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| I've tried using a pitchfork and making holes in the top 3 -4 inches of soil around a plant and watering in manure or manure tea. In my mind it works better, but if you have hard to penetrate soil it may just injure your foot! Just my 2 cents. |
RE: horse manure sink
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If your soil is too hard to pentrate easily that says your soil does not have adequate levels of organic matter.
Back in the 1950's my uncle, a farmer, said that if you smell manure after it is spread on the field that means the lazy farmer has not handled it properly and he is loosing valuable nutrients. Manure, especially fresh, needs to be worked in to the soil as soon after application as possible to help conserve those nutrients. |
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