Manure in raised beds

Hi,
I have built some raised beds and loaded them up with manure back in November to rot down over the months up to planting in Spring. I covered the manure with plastic at the time. Would you leave it covered and dig it over and recover or uncover it and let the rain and elements get at it.

 

Hi

I would take the plastic off , and just let the weather do its thing , plus any slugs snails lurking the birds will have .. I think most don’t dig it in anymore and use as a mulch and just let the worms take it down.

Spruce

 

When I used to get horse manure delivered, I spread it as a 6" mulch over fallow areas of the veg plot and just left it for nature to take it's course and come March it had pretty much disappeared into the soil.

 

I think we're assuming there's soil in the raised beds and the manure was spread on top? If you filled them with just manure you should probably mix in some soil before planting.

 

I agree you must have soil as pure manure will be far too strong for plant roots. Contrary to the impression given by some garden writing, you CAN have too much manure. I agree with others, put a 3-5cm layer ontop of soil, let the worms work it in.

 

If the manure was well-rotted it'll be fine.
I'd agree that it's best dug-in at least a bit so that the bugs etc in the soil can break down the manure into useable fertilizer for your plants.
Manure contains little fertilizer - less than 1% of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, so well-rotted manure is a very mild fertilizer.
Its main purpose is to improve the texture of the soil and encourage fungi and bacteria that will break down chemicals into nutrients that your plants can use.

I'd remove the cover sometime in the next 2-3 weeks and dig it in a bit to the top 6", then let weather help wash it in so by March/April you're ready to go.

 

I would not have covered with plastic in November. You require aerobic conditions for optimum decay.
Remove the cover.
Now lightly disturb the surface with a 3 tined cultivator to open the 'polished' top layer, permitting rain to percolate down, increase the air/soil contact area, redistribute any lumps and destroy any germinating weeds.Keep feet off the surface, especially if wet, to avoid compaction.Repeat in 4-6 weeks as you prepare to plant out your first plants.

 

Brilliant everyone. Thanks for the advice

 

My veg plot is a bit stale. Dug it over and bought some bags of soil improver and manure. Silly question - the instructions for the soil improver says leave a 3cm layer on top of the soil. Which of the two should I lay down first or just mix them up together before applying?

 

I don’t think it would make much difference. I would do whatever is easiest. Done separately it would be easier to ensure an even spread across the patch. I suspect the instruction for the soil improver is for looks as much as anything and so it also acts as a mulch layer.

 

It would be interesting to know how much manure is too much!? Having had horses at my home for nearly 25 years you can imagine the amount of manure created. I have gaily dumped manure on the greenhouse beds and on the veg and flowerbeds for years and the results have been fine, weather related issues, not so fine.
I remember years ago a farmer saying you can overdo the manure but never actually qualified it. All I can attest to is if you manure heavily, in time the soil structure becomes distinctly better and most plants respond very positively.

 

What is the nature of the 'soil improver'?, for there are (too) many materials so described. If it is organic green waste compost, such a Pro-grow, then personally would mix as or before use. Such materials are good but lack (due to heat generated in rapid composting) soil organisms. The manure likely has the deficit !

 

Do not exceed 10 tonne per hectare, thats about 1kg/sq mtr per year, not necessarily every year, depends on soil type.It is unlikely that it remains discernible on the surface after 1 year. Also different plant types have different preferences. You can assume negligible accumulation of nutrient, its soil texture and micro organisms that you wish to promote.

 

Help this is quite technical. I am very grateful you brought the measurements down to imaginable proportions! I would reckon the 1kg/mtr is about what has gone on annually over the years.
I don’t think many people realise how much big loads of manure break down to, not much. I have a flowerbed that was lawn or in my case mostly moss! After about 20 years of putting approx 15 full barrow loads on the flowerbed annually the level of the bed has only gone up about 4 inches from the original grass level.
There are certain plants I grow that do not get the manure treatment. Bearded Iris certainly being one off the top of my head.