How to Use Fresh Manure in Soil

Horse manure helps gardens grow, but must be applied with caution.

Fresh manure has been used by gardeners for hundreds of years, to increase both the health of their plants and the amount of produce harvested from them. French market gardeners in the 18th century used the tons of manure left on the streets of Paris by thousands of horses to produce copious amounts of vegetables from very small plots of land. Fresh manure can be used to help warm up the soil earlier in spring from underground; fresh manure is never spread on the surface of the soil of garden beds.

Things You'll Need

• Garden shovel
• Pitch fork

Instructions

1. Dig out your garden bed, removing the top 8 to 12 inches of soil. Reserve the soil.

2. Shovel the fresh manure into the bottom of the dug-out portion, spreading it evenly, using a pitch fork.

3. Refill the hole with the soil you originally removed. The ground level of the garden plot increases, equal to the depth of the manure that you spread into the bottom of the dug-out garden bed.

4. Allow the manure to "heat up" for about five days. As it decomposes, it gives off heat. The heat will warm the soil directly above it. Use this supplemental bottom-heat to grow crops earlier or later in the growing season than you normally would be able to grow them.

Tips & Warnings

• Fresh manure can also be placed into a pile, like a compost pile, and left to decompose for six to 12 months. After decomposing for this amount of time, it is safe to use directly on the surface of garden soil, as well as incorporated into the top few inches of the garden bed, without burning the plants growing there.

• Fresh manure spread near garden vegetables can transmit E. coli bacteria to the vegetables, which can then be transmitted to the people who eat them, according to Colorado State University Extension. Use only aged, properly composted manure on vegetable gardens.

• Never spread fresh manure around growing plants or incorporate it into the soil of a garden bed shortly before planting transplants or seeds. Fresh manure gives off a lot of heat as it decomposes and this heat will burn garden plants.

References

• Colorado State University Extension; Using Manure in the Home Garden; 2009
• Colorado State University Extension; Fresh Manure and Food Gardens Don't Mix; Carl Wilson; 2010