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Is fresh horse manure good for the veg/garden?

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Fruit & veg
Ive been offered some fresh horse manure. Would this be good for my veg beds (which have squash, tomatoes, onions and leeks). Or would it be better it be better on the roses in my garden. Or - if fresh manure is no good - how long would it take to rot down in order for me to use?
Thanks 
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Fresh manure is too acidic and is likely to burn your plants.   Pile it up in a corner or compost bin, cover it and it should be fine to use as a mulch by late autumn or next spring.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    In the Forties and Fifties when horses were a common sight on our roads, we'd keep a look out after they'd passed and dash out to collect any of their 'deposits' to put straight on the garden.  Never did any harm to my knowledge.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    We used to collect the droppings from the ice cream mans horse, when I was a kid. He had been coming round with Scotts ice cream in a horse and cart since the war.   The dropping went straight round the roses.  However I wouldn't put it around anything with soft green stems.  It will be fine mulching anything woody.  You can also  put it in a hessian sack and dangle it in the water butt, and then use the resultant feed on things like beans.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2020
    Putting droppings straight from the road or field straight onto the borders is fine. However stable manure will consist of urine-soaked straw or shavings as well as droppings, and this can scorch plants if used fresh
    so must be weathered or rotted down before use. As has been said, stack it in a corner and use from late autumn onwards when the straw bedding etc should have broken down and started to rot. 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    'Dovefromabove  have I heard somewhere that, as a medium, straw actually depletes the goodness from compostable material as it, itself, decomposes?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Most 'browns' use nitrogen as they decompose ... and then they release it when it's dug into the soil ... the straw in farmyard or stable manure uses the nitrogen in the urine and decomposes quicker than straw on its own.  That's why it's best to use it when it's rotted down. 

    Not sure if I've explained that very well .... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Quite possibly but, even if it does, it will be so minimal as to be unmeasurable and the straw adds bulk and fibre so improves soil texture.

    There's also a myth about wood chip in compost depleting nitrogen levels as it decomposes or ditto with wood chip used as a mulch on soil.   The RHS has done experiments and found the effect to be minimal/unmeasurable.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Yes, it seems to be a common myth that browns do much damage on beds.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Fire said:
    Yes, it seems to be a common myth that browns do much damage on beds.
    And yet woodland is full of fallen leaves every year ... turning into leafmould ... without any apparent depletion in fertility  ;)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Obviously a big subject.  Thanks all, but it seems the majority view is that any loss is minimal.  Phew!
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