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Planting into newly dug and manured beds

LatimerLatimer Posts: 790
in Tools and techniques
Hi all,

Just a quick question really, but if I dig a new bed and add well rotted manure, how soon can I start adding plants to it? I have some small plants grown from one of the free seeds that came with GW earlier in the year which will need planting out soon but wanted to add some organic matter to the bed, something I haven't done to the others.

Thanks
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Posts

  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Opinions may vary, but I often plant into beds where well rotted manure was recently added. The emphasis being it is 'well rotted' and not still active, if too fresh it can 'burn' roots and plants will suffer.
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 790
    @GemmaJF how do you know? 🤷🏽‍♂️ Do I assume if I'm buying bags from the GC rather than from a local farm that it will be well rotted?
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    Yes, the bagged stuff is ready to use......
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 10,819
    I agree with Mary, it will be fine to use and plant straight into.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    Yes, you are ready to go with the bagged stuff from the GC. With the fresh stuff, it's mostly moisture and smell that give away it is fresh rather than well rotted.
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 790
    @Mary370 @Lizzie27 @GemmaJF thanks all three of you!
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 790
    Hi again. So a couple of things happened at once! I got some bags of manure from the GC to dig into the terraced beds but at the same time I got lucky and managed to bag a load of plants coming out of one of our existing jobs!



    These needs to get planted asap before they dry out too much, will I be ok digging in the manure as I plant them or should I plant into the existing soil/compost mix and then mulch with the manure?
  • DevonianDevonian Posts: 176
    Usually GC manure is well-rotted enough to be used in that way (if it doesn't have a strong smell then it's fine).

    What plants are they out of interest? Looks amazing planted like that - crying out for a couple of acers within it too :)
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 790
    edited July 2020
    @Devonian I have no idea what they are!!! 🤣 all I know is that they are free and huge! Let's hope they love part shade. And I will definitely be looking at interplanting with Acers, Hostas and ferns.

    Thanks for the reply!
  • DevonianDevonian Posts: 176
    London_to_Latimer said:
    @Devonian I have no idea what they are!!! 🤣 all I know is that they are free and huge! Let's hope they love part shade. And I will definitely be looking at interplanting with Acers, Hostas and ferns.

    Thanks for the reply!
    Lucky you! They look a little bit like Libertia to me but I'm by no means an expert!
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