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Filling raised beds with manure

samgriffiths340-CMoNrTrsamgriffiths340-CMoNrTr Posts: 13
in Fruit & veg
Hi all I'm a relatively new & young gardener looking for some advice please, exactly how much manure can I use to fill raised beds in my veg garden?

I'm just outside laying out a new big bed, 4m x 2.4m x 40cm.  (13ft / 8ft / 16" ) .    I'm adding up how much it's going to cost to fill , horse manure is BY FAR my cheapest option I am paying a very cheap £20 for four builders bag inc delivery


But I am aware you can't really grow in just pure rotted muck , so I'm wondering what percent is acceptable? Just how far can I push it ?

The bed is going to be used for root veg this year/season coming (leaks, onions, carrots, parsnips, garlic)


Posts

  • samgriffiths340-CMoNrTrsamgriffiths340-CMoNrTr Posts: 13
    Any help appreciated thank you !
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hi @samgriffiths340-CMoNrTr - 4 bulk bags won't go very far unfortunately, so you'd need a lot more than that to fill a bed that size. I'm assuming it's a 'built' bed, rather than just a border/bed on the ground. 
    Some topsoil and compost to make a decent mix would be the general idea. Home made compost is ideal, bought in if you don't have that, and the ratio won't be too important, but around a third each of the overall volume. If you filled it up to the brim now, it will also need topping up by spring, so bear that in mind too. If you don't already have one, it's worth having a compost bin or two, so that you can have a supply to add each year for topping up.  :)

    Carrots don't like rich soil, so you may have to rethink the area you grow those in. It's fairly easy to divide the bed up - another physical barrier put in front to back. A small layer of rotted manure in that bed would be ok, but it would be better to top that up with mostly old, used compost, or similar. I appreciate you may not have that though. I always did mine in pots using the spent compost from previous year's annuals, and maybe a bit of garden soil.

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2023
    I would use approx one third well rotted manure to two thirds screened topsoil for most veg … including leeks and onions. 

    But NOT for your root veg … ie carrots, parsnips, turnips, beetroot etc. They will fork (produce malformed roots) if grown in a bed where the manure has not yet broken down and been incorporated into the soil. 
     
    Root veg will be fine in that bed the following year, but for now you need a bed of screened topsoil mixed with garden compost for them. 

    NB If the manure is not well rotted it needs stacking to rot down before using on your veg bed. 

    I hope that helps. 

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





  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    It sounds like you've about 4 cubic metres to fill.
    Cheapest (and what I do) is to find a local stables offering well rotted manure free to collect)
    By 'builders bag' do you mean one of the big cubic metre bags ? If so that is a good price and worth going for.
    If I were you, I'd probably go with 3 cube of manure (assuming it's well rotted) and look for a price for a delivered metre cube of topsoil to go on top.
  • EmptyheadtimeEmptyheadtime Posts: 366
    In general you can never have too much manure……You ‘ can’ grow somethings in just manure, I successfully grew squashes like this once, but they are hungry plants. However some crops don’t like as much as others. Carrots prefer a poorer,free draining soil so I usually plant them In ground that was fed/used for something else the previous year, as manure can make them fork. Onions also don’t like ‘fresh’manure but well rotted manure is fine so digging some in now for spring planting will be fine.
    as for how much you can use, well that will depend on how well rotted it is and what you want to grow.
  • samgriffiths340-CMoNrTrsamgriffiths340-CMoNrTr Posts: 13
    Thank you all nice to see a forum still busy and active, you have given me a lot to think about 


    we were looking about planting carrots in lines of sand in the bed , I have seen others do this ..     we grew carrots this year in pure compost , only lost a few , most still grew straight , but they tasted INTENSE . I've never tasted anything so carroty in my life (maybe it's just that home grown produce tastes better than the washed out stuff you get in the shops ???)


    The manure is half rotted now , I was hoping if I got it in this autumn it'd be ready by spring planting 

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It will be fine, so long as the manure is well rotted, to grow heavy feeding vegetables, such as courgettes, cucumbers and pumpkins. Carrots and parsnips don't like much manure, they prefer a light soil. Add some soil and bags of cheap compost and most other veg will be happy, tomatoes, onions,  potatoes, cabbages, spinach.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Must be a popular subject, while I was thinking and typing there have been several answers! I'm a slow typist  :)
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • samgriffiths340-CMoNrTrsamgriffiths340-CMoNrTr Posts: 13
    StephenSouthwest said:
    It sounds like you've about 4 cubic metres to fill.
    Cheapest (and what I do) is to find a local stables offering well rotted manure free to collect)
    By 'builders bag' do you mean one of the big cubic metre bags ? If so that is a good price and worth going for.
    If I were you, I'd probably go with 3 cube of manure (assuming it's well rotted) and look for a price for a delivered metre cube of topsoil to go on top.


    Yes big cubic meter bags of muck , £20 for a load & he can do as many as we need (a good man to know! ).    


    Weve also got screened topsoil coming in at £30 a tonne delivered , council food waste bin compost @ £35/tonne delivered (good stuff)  , all cheap prices I think , but I'm as tight as a ducks behind so getting the best bang for buck important to me lol

    This bed I'm putting in now HAS to be root veg this year with the way crop rotation has worked out. So I guess I might have to pay out some money and get some good topsoil in




  • samgriffiths340-CMoNrTrsamgriffiths340-CMoNrTr Posts: 13
    Thank you all !
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