Derek Turner wrote in
:

Subject: Hoprse stable sweepings - contains weed seeds, typically?
From: Derek Turner
Newsgroups: uk.rec.gardening

On Wed, 19 Feb 2014 21:50:45 +0000, JD wrote:

I have a lawn which was planted on very poor gritty, clayey soil. I'm
wondering if I can just spread a load of this stuff over the lawn,
thinly enough not to smother the grass, and mother nature will take
it down beneath the surface and enrich the soil a bit.... or will I
get a load of fresh weeds coming up from seeds contained in the
'manure'?

If I were you I'd hot-compost it before use. Try to get a trailer-load
in one go - add nothing else except water occasionally if it is
getting too dry. Straw tends to reduce the nitrogen content but this
should be more than made up for by the horse-urine, which will also
act as an accelerator. I may be wrong but I wouldn't rely on the
horses' digestive systems to destroy all the seeds in their diet. A
good, hot compost heap should and composted manure will be less likely
to smother as it will be broken down and friable.

Derek,

Thank you for the tips. How long does stuff generally need to compost for
in order to kill the seeds?

JD