after adding the contents of a compost bag onto my garden i was surprised to find I had an abundance of petunias growing which I had not planted. I left them in place while they were flowering but on removal I find they have taken all the goodness away that was already there.
2007-09-20 03:47:34 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Find a friendly farmer and get some manure, my garden EXPLODED this year!!!
2007-09-20 03:51:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Manure and lots of it, if you have a new bed, double dig it, to two spades depth if poss and add tons of the stuff. This provides food for earthworms and other soil animals helping to improve soil fertility and structure. It also helps the soil to hold on to moisture and makes the soil more workable. If you have beds already planted up, apply manure to a depth of 2" on top of the soil, taking care not to let it touch any stems. Best time to do this is Autumn so get going. You can also use garden compost, spent mushroom compost or even bark but be careful cos bark can "lock up" the nitrogen in the soil so v. important to add fertilisers such as "growmore" in the spring. Dont add both manure and fertilisers at the same time as it can cause harmful chemical reactions. The earthworms will drag the manure into the deeper layers, just did a small area in the spring and see how quickly the earthworms work! As your soil becomes more fertile you will notice an increase in the number of earthworms. The more earthworms you have, the healthier your soil. The dark colour of the manure/compost will also allow your soil to warm up more quickly in spring which gives your plants a head start. It also helps the soil stay warmer for longer in the autumn. So go for it and get round to your local stables. Remember, it must be well rotted (ie sat around for at least 6m to a year) before you can apply it, otherwise, fresh manure will scorch and prob kill your plants!
2007-09-21 16:54:01 · answer #2 · answered by Stoofer 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I find stable manure is the easiest to use.
Many small stables have trouble getting rid and are happy to allow you to bring along sacks to take it away .
Compost it for only a few months and it is ideal, not too rich so as to make plants bolt.
Once dug in and planted out, give your garden a good mulch of stable manure (it isn't smelly and looks good) to keep the soil moist, to constantly feed the soil/plants and in the Autumn hoe it in and your manuring is done for the following season.
Your not only feeding, your conditioning the soil. Over a period you will be amazed at how friable your soil becomes.
2007-09-22 20:57:44 · answer #3 · answered by andyman 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I really fertilized my garden well a few years back and noticed I was having a problem with some of my plants. After having the soil analyzed I found I had way too much ammonia nitrate in the soil and needed to add some calcium back into the ground to get productive plants. If you have a local extension office they may help you analyze your soil and (depending on the plant types you are growing) they can give you some helpful hints on what to get to re-condition your soil.
You can read up on how to do soil testing at this website:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1132.html
It may seem like over kill but it works!
2007-09-20 11:19:52 · answer #4 · answered by lc_kay 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is only the top few inches of soil that has any goodness in it and by adding the bag of compost you put some life back into the soil.
You need to add a compost, peat or mulch and fork it in to the top few inches, this is where most plants have their feeding roots, this needs to be done every year
2007-09-20 12:50:19 · answer #5 · answered by Gender Bender 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not sure how you determined the "goodness" was gone. At the end of the growing season, add manure, compost or other organic material and till it into the soil. I prefer cow manure over horse manure. The digestive systems of these animals is different and horse manure contains more weed seeds than cow. Tilling it in now lets it decompose and prevent "burning" plants and vegetables.
2007-09-20 11:23:16 · answer #6 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
One of the best things to do is either go to a garden centre or a farmer and get lots of manure. You can either slightly dig it into the ground. Or if you ground is too hard then you can lay the manure on top. Then keep watering it into the ground. It may smell a bit to start with but that will soon disappear.
2007-09-21 04:31:55 · answer #7 · answered by tia 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Order some bags of manure from your local stables (check the Yellow Pages). Well-rotted manure doesn't smell bad. Dig it into your soil, you wil be amazed at the results.
When planting, use bonemeal. It's a natural long-lasting plant food.
2007-09-20 10:56:54 · answer #8 · answered by Andrew L 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I like to add compost, manure and green sand to my vegetable garden beds every year before planting.
2007-09-21 09:13:36 · answer #9 · answered by ant3eye 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
your local garden or farm supply will be able to help. depending were you live and the soil contents you will need different types of amendments. Home depot may also be of some help, but get some one that knows their stuff as they will sell you anything that they see if they don't know.
2007-09-20 11:01:40 · answer #10 · answered by The Handyman Pro 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
lots of organic materials, horse or cow poopy, chopped up leaves or composted leaves grasses etc.
you can buy soil enricher at the garden centers.
RRRR
2007-09-21 21:38:49 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋