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federal way WA

i just recived 5 yards of "aged horse manure" unfortunatly it is nice aged manure mixed with a large amount of cedar shavings...I am concerned about putting it on my patch...any idea what affect the cedar shavings will have on the soil?

4/14/2007 7:35:47 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

make it smell nice, and keep the moths away??? LOL sorry bout that!!! Peace, Wayne

4/14/2007 8:40:47 PM

federal way WA

good one!! any actual advice?

4/14/2007 8:50:57 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I had bad fortune with manure and wood shavings mixed and will never use it again in my patch. Till it is fully broken down, the wood chips/shavings take away more than they give to the equation.

Untill fully composted, maybe use it this year as a top dressing or to bury your vines with and it will then more fully break down when incorporated in the fall.

4/14/2007 10:37:17 PM

Puyallup, WA

Cedar wood does not "break down" very quickly. The object of getting manure with sawdust is to have them both break down into composted soil. Those cedar chips could stay in their present state for many years.

4/15/2007 1:12:51 AM

Paradise Mountain, New York

Stan is right about the cedar shavings. I'd let it set for a few years.

4/15/2007 5:24:21 AM

Long Island,New York

If the cedar doesn't break down for many years how active in stealing nitrogen could it really be?

4/15/2007 8:09:23 AM

Waquoit Mass

cedar trees also catch a disease which im not sure if it can be transfered to your soil .

4/15/2007 9:46:49 AM

Waquoit Mass

cedar rust i believe

4/15/2007 9:47:14 AM

Clayton Cal

cedar shavings is prety fancy stuff most livestock beding is pine.still takes a year to break down.

4/15/2007 1:25:27 PM

federal way WA

Im in the "Great Northwest" (south of Seattle) and i guess it is a fairly common bedding material here. When the truck delivered the manure it was a black as night and i was all set to till it into my patch but as it dried out during the day it looked more like a wood pile that any thing else. Like Stan said the cedar part looks like brand new wood despite the year or two old manure.....So I think Ill spread it on the flower gardens and stick to cow manure for the pumpkins

4/15/2007 1:59:57 PM

federal way WA

thanks evryone for your thoughts and good luck to you this growing season

4/15/2007 2:07:56 PM

Nashville, TN

The oils produced within Cedar trees has antifungul, antibacterial, pesticidal, pest repellent activity... I've always HEARD from older master gardeners to only use it around evergreen plantings, that it wasn't good for the growth of tender annuals.. But I haven't spotted a study done on that...

4/16/2007 8:49:50 AM

federal way WA

Well, that sure doesnt sound like the best route to growing the elusive 1000 pounder!!!

4/16/2007 12:46:41 PM

Waterloo, Nebraska

If it is mixed with horse manure, I doubt it is cedar. Cedar is not used for horse bedding (at least not by people that know what they are doing). Cedar irritates the horse's skin. Normally pine shavings are used.
Jody

4/16/2007 1:22:04 PM

federal way WA

Yep, its cedar, its common in the NW

4/16/2007 7:30:15 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

I've found that when I used horse manure with the cedar shavings in my flower beds that the flowers loved it. Vegetables not so good. Tons of shepherd's purse weeds that year too.

4/16/2007 7:51:28 PM