Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Improving soil structure

gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
in Problem solving
Hello everyone, apologies if I’ve asked this before.

I’m looking to improve my soil structure by the use of farmyard manure. Is it ok to use this annually? I ask because I’m aware that farmyard manure contains a fair amount of nitrogen. The plants that will be in the border are

Aquilegias
Achillea
Penstemons
Escallonia

Would these be okay with a mulch of farmyard manure?

Many thanks

Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    edited December 2020
    Has it been rotting down for a while or is it fresh from the farmyard? If the latter, then I wouldn't use it. You should keep it for a few months in a heap somewhere. When it's fresh, it can 'burn' plants it comes into contact with - trees and woody shrubs may cope but your plants are 'soft' types.
    If it's been kept long enough (best gauge is if it doesn't smell like manure, it's probably old enough), then it'll be fine. 
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    Hi @raisingirl it does smell a bit like manure still but is still in its original bag so it should rot down in that? I’ve got nowhere else to put it 🤔
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Have you bought it bagged from a shop or in sacks from a farm/stable?

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    raisingirl said:
    Have you bought it bagged from a shop or in sacks from a farm/stable?

    Bags from a shop :)
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    It'll probably be fine then. If you can, leave a bit of a gap where the plants are (although you probably can't see them at the moment), just so the baby leaves when they come up in spring don't come into contact with the mulch, if possible. But hopefully there'll be time for it to 'settle' and the worms to work it in before those new leaves start to make an appearance, so don't be too paranoid about it
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    Thanks @raisingirl yes I tend to overthink things when it comes to gardening. It’s because I just like to really understand it. Would the achillea be okay with the manure mulch? Is manure a quick or slow release of nitrogen? 
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    I would hesitate about feeding your Achillea too rich a diet--they tend to be short-lived, then (though A. filipendulina is fine in my experience). Naturally they thrive best in fairly dry, slightly chalky meadow situations. I lost a good few (all forms of A. millefolium) before I found out! The other plants should be OK, but in general nowadays the advice is not to over-feed any plant, as it promotes soft growth that is more prone to disease. So you might want to be sparing with manure, though adding organic matter in general is a good idea. But, again, there are exceptions...if your winters tend to be damp then some plants will die if their neck is surrounded by a chilly, soggy mat of organic material. 

    Manure releases nitrogen quite fast when fresh, but if well-rotted that should not be a problem, as @raisingirl says.

    You might find this article useful:

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=865

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    It also depends what you're starting with. Adding organic material improves all soils by feeding the 'dead' ecology - all the organisms from bacteria to fungi, worms and loads of other invertebrates depend on having decaying material to 'eat'. If you are a tidy gardener then the natural cycle is inhibited and your soil becomes increasingly sterile. If you 'feed' it with something that is going to break down fairly readily - manure, composted bark, leaf mulch, garden compost - all of which are already part way through the decay process so can be 'available' to the soil creatures very readily, you feed that ecology and kick start the soil composition.
    However, if your soil is light and sandy or chalky, you may have to work quite hard to keep the 'food' in the soil and stop it washing straight though. In that case, manure mulch won't do your achilleas much harm, but you will probably have to mulch every year for a long time before you can try growing greedy plants. If you have a heavy clay soil, your achilleas are already on a hiding to nothing (they'll likely drown) but your penstemon will probably be happier. In those soils, the manure takes longer to have much impact but once the ecology gets revved up, the long term condition is far more stable and you don't need to mulch as often, apart from things like roses and annual veg.

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • gardenman91gardenman91 Posts: 429
    Thank you for the responses and advice. My soil is chalky but has a few elements of clay so can become capped in summer when it bakes and cracks. It also slakes in this wet weather we’ve been having. Would green manure be an alternative to manure mulching? Or would the green manure provide too
    much nitrogen as greens?
Sign In or Register to comment.