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Too mulch of a good thing?

dmcedmce Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Last year and this year I've been adding high quality well-rotted cattle manure to my clay heavy beds. It's lovely stuff with virtually no weed seeds, but I'm wondering if I can keep doing this year after year or whether I'll be adding too much nitrogen. An analysis on their website indicates almost twice as much nitrogen as "ordinary" compost but 2/3 less ammonia. This compost is also apparently higher in trace elements. You can see a brief analysis on this website http://advancedcompost.com/analysis-value/ 
Do you think it's safe to continue using this as a mulch every year? So far the plants seem happy.
Thanks for your advice!

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Yes, I think it's great. If it's fresh manure, make sure to leave beds empty and give at least six months for it to work in and wash out.

    As I understand it, a lot of the virtue comes from the urea in the urine - where the amonia and the nitrogen is. Well rotted manure will be great for your beds over time.

    Be care to give clearance for shrubs and trees so that any manure is not coming close to the base.
  • dmcedmce Posts: 10
    Thanks Fire - good to know I can keep using it!
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Precaution!  Late last year a friendly farmer left me a large trailer full of farmyard.  I've downscaled my veg plot drastically over the last two years (we were wasting far more than we ate) so I took the opportunity of putting a lot of the muck all over the plot to a depth of at least 9 inches.  From what I can see now, it may have produced a sharp increase in the soil's acidity for which I'm adding liberal quantities of granular lime to make it more alkaline.  My soil is of beautiful quality when I dig it and the rhubarb is thriving as never before, but you may be advised to keep an eye on your ph. if other crops don't do so well?
  • dmcedmce Posts: 10
    That's interesting. I've not tested my soil before .... good idea
    thanks!
    DMcE
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