Five manure facts to help your garden grow

Using manures in the garden helps to add organic matter and nutrients to the soil, but not all manures are created equal. 

1. Hot manures - Hot manures are high in nitrogen and if used fresh, can burn plants causing stunting or even death, so you want to age them first. Poultry and horse manure are both considered hot manures as they have a low carbon to high nitrogen ratio, so can burn plants if applied without suitable composting.

2. Cold manures - Cold manures are lower in nutrients than hot manures but are perfect for building up and improving soils. Alpaca, sheep, cow and rabbit manures are all cold manures with a higher carbon to low nitrogen ration and release nutrients more slowly. 

3. No-go manures - Manure from carnivores like cats and dogs as well as omnivores like humans and pigs should be avoided as they contain harmful bacteria and other pathogens. 

4. Aging manures - All manure should be well aged before use in the garden. The longer you age them, the better, but the minimum is 3-6 months. Fresh manure collected from farm gates can contain a lot of weed seeds. Aging your manure will help kill these seeds before they spread throughout your garden. Fresh bags of manure can be aged in the bag or composted.

Chicken manure is high in nitrogen making it ideal for growing leafy greens. It is also high in phosphorus that is unsuitable to phosphorus-sensitive plants such as those in the Proteaceae family. Due to its high nitrogen content, only used aged chicken manure and apply in moderation, as a sprinkle, not shovel. 

Sheep, and cow manure has less nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus than chicken manure, but they are great soil improvers, adding organic matter and structure to garden soil. Horse manure typically contains a lot of weed seed and needs to be composted for a long time before use or use as a base for manure tea. Once it’s adequately composted, use any herbivore manure liberally in the garden.

5. Manure tea - All manure can be added to the garden when preparing new beds and during the growing season for an added boost of nutrition. Making manure tea is an easy way to add natural nutrients to the soil without digging in.