horse manure in gardens

[radioman]

thanks guys! ... keep those opinions coming. I never used horse manure but I have cow manure at a different place. looks like I will nix the pallet idea unless I can find a spot that is no where near the garden where a couple years from now when pallet rots out- so I wont till it so the said nails/staples stays in the ground unless I pull up the pallets in the fall and throw it on the bonfire pile for the kids.
As for weeds- I get them every year .. bad.. no matter what I do. how about this year after adding the horse crap- Ill put down a thick layer of 2 yrs old first cutting hay that I can get from a local hayer?

 

[charlz]

I wouldn't use hay. I raise a little bit of hay to sell and get a nice crop of grass/weeds where my haystack sits regardless of what cutting. I once used old barley straw as mulch and I had an outstanding barley crop later that year I just treated it as 'green manure' (cover crop) and tilled it under before it went totally to seed.

I put down a thick layer of my weed-free compost and it helps quite a bit. Plastic mulch is a option but not really that cheap when you have to replace it every year. Some people use cardboard and/or newsprint if you have that available in quantity and can keep it from blowing away.

 

[DrRod]

Ditto on the hay. Same for straw. Whatever it was is what you'll get. I used some old straw to cover a patch of grass seed. Despite my best efforts, the grass never really took hold but I did end up with a nice cover of oats. Hey, at least it was green.

 

[phiferpharm]

I think Horse manure is wonderful, especially since two of my neighbors have been asking if they can have some from my Mount Poopmore. So far I've happily loaded up two wagon loads for each of them of my well-seasoned 10 foot high Mound. I'm hoping to have them tell their friends of this wonderful opportunity to get there very own pile of prime manure...

 

[2LaneCruzer]

If you are very industrious with your compost, turning it often and mixing it appropriately it will heat up dramatically...and kill most weed seeds; almost everything except maybe Bermuda grass roots. I also doubt it will kill the Clostridium bacteria; and it is found in horse manure in abundance. Clostridium Tetani is the bacteria that causes Tetanus...so keep that in mind if you step on a rusty nail (my Mother's bug a boo) while wading up to your knees in horse manure.