Soil amendments that don't need composting?

[Alexandra]

Does everything including grass clippings and really old cow manure need to compost? I am trying to improve my garden soil before the fall garden which I need to plant in 7-10 days.

Thanks!

[Cinder]

I remember reading (a very long time ago) that one of the manures could go straight into the garden, but I can't remember if it was chicken or rabbit. It had something to do with low acid in the feces. Maybe you could google organic garden compost or something like that.

 

Sorry not to be of more help. But at least you'll get a bump!

 

Cinder

[Slartibartfast]

I remember reading (a very long time ago) that one of the manures could go straight into the garden, but I can't remember if it was chicken or rabbit. It had something to do with low acid in the feces. Maybe you could google organic garden compost or something like that.

 

Sorry not to be of more help. But at least you'll get a bump!

 

Cinder

 

Rabbit poop can go straight in.

 

Chicken poop contains too much nitrogen and would burn the plants.

 

I think you could make a "tea" from chicken poop though.

Edited August 2, 2010 by Sis

[LauraGB]

Well, I don't know if it's a hard and fast rule that everything needs to compost, but it's not a terrible idea. I don't have a compost heap. I dig in grass clippings, egg shells, coffee grounds like a mad woman (because we have those things daily). My plants love it. I sometimes toss in epsom salt, too, just to even things out. The only problem you may run into, depending on the location of your garden, is critters. The worst I've had are rabbits and a woodchuck (and while I don't know if it's because I just tossed stuff into the dirt, they can truly ruin a crop in an evening :glare:).

[Melissa in Australia]

old cow poo can go straight on the garden. grass clippings can be put on the top as mulch. my Organic gardening book recommends putting down a layer of grass clippings, then manure ( cow, sheep rabbit whatever) and because the poo isn't right on the plant, it works fine. chook and pigeon poo needs to break down a little first as the nitrogen is to high.

[RegGuheert]

Does everything including grass clippings and really old cow manure need to compost? I am trying to improve my garden soil before the fall garden which I need to plant in 7-10 days.

Thanks!

I don't know about grass clippings, but I would expect "really old cow manure" would be OK. But it might depend on what you are planting. Please post what you are planting and I will ask MomsintheGarden to weigh in.

 

We just tilled in some not-fully-composted horse manure, but this is for a new garden area which we will not plant until next spring. But NO WAY would I put horse manure on the garden just before planting. Too many weeds and probably WAY too acidic for most things. We will plant buckwheat on it now and will till in the buckwheat (and weeds) either later in the year or next spring.

[OrganicAnn]

Really old cow manure would be perfect to be put in.

 

The reason you need to compost things is to help them break down into something that will be beneficial to plants and to eliminate anything that needs eliminated. Time will do that or composting. So really old manure will be very good.

[Wildiris]

If already composted cow, chicken or horse manure are difficult to come by, try Green-All organic soil amendment/ soil conditioner. I used it this summer with my much neglected garden beds and it helped the break up the soil--we have lots of blue clay. The plants are growing better than expected.

[Peela]

Cow, sheep and horse manures go straight on here, as a sort of mulch manure. Both are safe for plants. Chicken manure burns.

Grass clippings take the nitrogen out of the soil, I was always told- as they break down.

I frequently will buy a bag of manure- mushroom compost works too- and just spread it over the surface for a top up.

 

I did however just use my very first complete bin of beautiful black home made biodynamic compost on the weekend. Dh helped me build a new garden bed in full sun, and I used the compost on it. It was such a thrill!

[LauraGB]

Grass clippings take the nitrogen out of the soil, I was always told- as they break down.

 

 

I always thought that fresh grass clippings added nitrogen to the soil as they broke down. Eek! Now I have to go check...

[Alexandra]

Cow, sheep and horse manures go straight on here, as a sort of mulch manure. Both are safe for plants. Chicken manure burns.

Grass clippings take the nitrogen out of the soil, I was always told- as they break down.

I frequently will buy a bag of manure- mushroom compost works too- and just spread it over the surface for a top up.

 

I did however just use my very first complete bin of beautiful black home made biodynamic compost on the weekend. Dh helped me build a new garden bed in full sun, and I used the compost on it. It was such a thrill!

 

It seems to me that the timing is important so if you are not planting for a while.... I hope to put plants in soonish.

A

[Alexandra]

I don't know about grass clippings, but I would expect "really old cow manure" would be OK. But it might depend on what you are planting. Please post what you are planting and I will ask MomsintheGarden to weigh in.

 

We just tilled in some not-fully-composted horse manure, but this is for a new garden area which we will not plant until next spring. But NO WAY would I put horse manure on the garden just before planting. Too many weeds and probably WAY too acidic for most things. We will plant buckwheat on it now and will till in the buckwheat (and weeds) either later in the year or next spring.

 

We are in Central Texas if that helps. Thanks for the response!

[Alexandra]

old enough? I really can not believe that I just posted a question about cow poo but I really appreciate this. This is the stuff that I have the greatest access to and if I could use it without burning the plants - well that would be great.

Thanks!

[LauraGB]

Crazy - when I googled "grass clippings nitrogen", the results were either very strongly not to do it because it would leach nitrogen, or very strongly that it would offer nitrogen. Huh. I wonder if because I mix it with other things it works out okay. Weird.

[OrganicAnn]

If you mix grass clipping with lots of dirt, it would be okay. Other things (like veg scraps) will also be breaking down and in combination with lots of grass could aggravate the problem. This is why people compose their stuff before putting it on the garden.

 

too much Nitrogen produces plants with lots of leaves, but little fruit. Also lack of nitrogen causes problems too.

[Laura Corin]

I put old horse poo on my fruit trees this year and they seem very happy. I looked into using fresh grass clippings, but found references to the problem of introducing live grass seed/roots into beds, so have avoided it.

 

If you are using grass clippings, make sure that the lawn hasn't had any weedkilling treatment that might affect your plants - the dressing we used this spring said that we needed to compost the clippings for six months before using them.

 

Laura

[Peela]

Are you planting a winter garden Peela?

It seems to me that the timing is important so if you are not planting for a while.... I hope to put plants in soonish.

A

 

Yes, I guess it is :)

We have a mediterranean climate here so we get all (well by far most)of our rain in winter, so winter is kind of when everything comes alive, and by spring its very beautiful and amazing (and we have those famous Western Australian wildflowers- they really are amazing). The weather has been gorgeous though...some rainy days, then some beautiful sunny ones. Can't complain!

I have planted roma tomatoes and tiny tomatoes in my new sunny patch, and then i put in a whole lot of seeds and we will see what actually takes! I had a collection of seed packets that needed using up. I rarely get bugs here for some reason, although my broccolini seedlings seem to have dematerialised, right next to the lettuce which is still there. Must be tasty to something.

Its been great to get back into the garden.