purpleinopp said: My pleasure!

Along with the others, I am curious about the location. Not trying to invade your privacy but could you tell us at least the state or country? I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that the most basic factor of any gardening effort is the location.

My home and garden are over in the Uk, in the small principality of
Wales, near the city of Swansea.
It rains a lot! and spring is coming earlier for sure. Can't make sense of this weather.
The climate here does fit with what I try to grow,
And I agree location can often be the key to success in the garden.
John



Billy say's hello.

Awwww! What a sweet looking fellow! I suspected your garden was English. I can't give you any specific reason, just vague beauty and tidiness, a compliment.

We are all at the mercy of our location. Everywhere I gardened in OH was like you describe your original, clay with the top soil removed to sell - building a housing development where there used to be a farm, could still see the bulldozer tracks under the sod in places. Organic matter decomposes much more slowly there, with part of the year being frozen, and the lack of oxygen in the clay. Adding anything in the realm of muddy would have not been the kind of organic matter that would be helpful in the initial stages of trying to build garden soil.

Where I am now, the soil is very sandy and dries too fast. Adding something muddy would not cause it to stay too wet.

When trying to build garden soil out of a lifeless spot, especially where a monoculture of grass used to be, is not an instant thing. The existing soil structure will determine what happens to various additions, and how quickly. If there was little or no microscopic life in the soil, tilling in or dumping OM on the surface won't instantly cause it to start occurring at max effectiveness. Time is a necessary ingredient of garden soil.

Any new garden spot is worth the effort, as long as the expectations are reasonable the first few years, as the dirt regenerates into soil.

I try to add as much of a variety as I can find. We know plants need a lot of different "stuff" so it makes sense to me that if I add a lot of different forms of OM from the widest possible variety of sources, eventually the soil will have the widest possible variety of "stuff" in it.

The coolest part of all of this, to me, has been having had the opportunity to see the same thing happen to opposite kinds of original soil.

Am I really the only one who questions the sanity/capability of this woman to keep horses?

That women should be given a lesson in good animal husbandry.

purpleinopp said:
We are all at the mercy of our location.

yeah... The cooler temps and the rain over in England... Makes a lot of difference.

I spent 15 years building soil at my previous location... A couple truckloads of manure / mulch weekly. And with the Middle GA heat and humidity, I never could get the results I hoped for...

One year, I went to a clay mtn top in East TN... Was amazed at how easy gardening was up there in the cooler temps and the increased rain... With only a few truckloads of horse poop added...

I came back down here to a spot with bottomless sand... And if I thought gardening in my previous garden with clay was hard...

Of course, I knew that I wanted clay soil... Couldn't get the real estate people to show me any...

Arico said: Am I really the only one who questions the sanity/capability of this woman to keep horses?

That women should be given a lesson in good animal husbandry.

Now, it doesn't say how long she kept horses there, or how long since they may have been gone.. only that sawdust got placed and stamped on for some time

John, your garden is wonderful and Billy is !

I'd kill for a truckload of that manure.

I'd kill to read that headline in the local news.

Novice to site trying to delete post made in error😕

I would wet it down and let the old manure compost at least a year, but two is better. I have used manure that was not fully "cooked" that sprouted the worst crop of weeds you ever saw, especially horse nettles. Think about weeds like field bindweed being viable for up to 50 years! This manure has been nice and dry, and out of the sun. There may still be weed seeds in there, depending on horse forage habits.

I have seen other people use composted horse manure from horses that foraged on pastures that had been treated with broadleaf weedkiller. The gardeners didn't know it at the time of use, but after their veggie gardens failed, they figured out what had happened. I suspect that that manure needed composting for three to 5 years to deal with the weedkiller residue. Know thy source.

There are places around the world that have traditionally used dung as a sort of concrete floor material, because it is hard and durable when it dries. It can even be burnished to the point of shine! You would never know it was dung! Those clods may take a while to soften.

Well-composted horse manure is like gold in the garden, though! I buy it in bulk from local sources.

Arico said: Am I really the only one who questions the sanity/capability of this woman to keep horses?

That women should be given a lesson in good animal husbandry.

I have visited many studs, a method some used, called" deep litter"
Let's the dung pile up, and top with sawdust.
This method is often used for foals or yearlings.
The thinking is, it keeps warm for Overwintering , and it's good to keep the hoof off a hard floor.
I have never used this method personally for my own foals "welsh cob's"
Didn't like the look of it to be honest, each to his own I suppose….
But there's one thing I do know, Americans love their horses, big time
John

I think deep litter method has been tried by some adolescent humans in Their bedrooms.

Meandmyroses said: I have visited many studs, a method some used, called" deep litter"
Let's the dung pile up, and top with sawdust.
This method is often used for foals or yearlings.
The thinking is, it keeps warm for Overwintering , and it's good to keep the hoof off a hard floor.
I have never used this method personally for my own foals "welsh cob's"
Didn't like the look of it to be honest, each to his own I suppose….
But there's one thing I do know, Americans love their horses, big time
John

Deep litter is indeed a method used in all kinds of animal husbandry, but that doesn't mean you need to let the waste lay in situ and pile up forever. It still needs cleaning out regularly. You don't just keep going to the toilet without flushing every time either, do you?

sallyg said: I think deep litter method has been tried by some adolescent humans in Their bedrooms.

Adolescents? I haven't been one of those for over 30 years, but I still use that method in my room most of the time.