Manure

[blackfingers]

Can anybody tell me what's the difference between cow and horse manure?I've spoken to my neighbour who had the cow manure delivered for his polytunnel(I don't know what he grows there)asking where did he get that from as I need some as well.He asked me if it's for the roses.Partially yes,so he said I should get horse manure instead.What's the difference if it has to be well rotten anyway?And can you use horse manure for veg growing as well?[/I]

[Paul Narramore]

I can only give you my experience with horse manure as we have hundreds of horses within a mile of our home but no cows. As you say if they are both well rotted, should it make any difference?

Roses are pretty tough plants so with horse manure I ignore the old wive's tale about only using well rotted horse manure. I can get as much fresh manure as my little van can carry away - it's all bagged up for anyone to take - so I generally use it as a mulch around the base of my roses BUT keeping a few inches back from the main stem. The same applies when mulching around established shrubs too. One year I got some slight yellowing of the leaves of one or two shrubs and this probably mean't that as the fresh muck was rotting down, it was depleting the soil of nitrogen. Other than that I've never had any problems. As for new rose beds, I would allow the manure to rot first as when you dig it in, it will be in direct contact with the roots and problems MAY occur. I hope that helps.