"Mark Allison" nomail@please wrote in
:

I live in Bedfordshire, and I'm afraid myself and a couple of
neighbours will probably use it all! We live in new houses and the
soil is in a poor state, so we're going to need tons of the stuff. I'm
going to do lots of digging over the next few weeks...:-/


I only plan on doing it the once and then just topping it up with some
more rotted manure in spring and autumn in following seasons. Does
that sound about right? I'm very new to this, you see.

Yes, though bear in mind you will need to keep topping up. Manure is
brilliant stuff, but it doesn't last forever. You can also mulch with
compost, and that fresh manure you were offered is perfect for putting
in the middle of a compost heap to get it rotting down quickly.

You may not think you need to compost with all that manure available,
but you soon will! Plants put on so much growth so quickly,
particularly when well-fed - you don't want to have to take everything
you cut back all the way to the tip.

It might be a good idea to think about mulching now while you are laying
out your garden, so you create paths that you can easily trog manure
along to the bits that most need it.

My garden is steep with winding paths and steps. Getting significant
amounts of manure up to the veg garden at the top from the drive at the
bottom is a bit of a pain. I inherited a lot of stuff from the previous
owners, but if I were creating it now I think I'd grow fruit and veg
closer to the house!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
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