Now that all the red rock has been removed, we’re ready to add soil.
I needed to find out what soil to put in my flowerbed. While researching, I found that chicken manure is best since weed seeds rarely reach the chicken’s digestive tract. In second place was cow manure. Since cows have four stomachs, many weed seeds don’t survive the digestive tract. Well, guess what? I don’t have access to chickens or cows, so I used the third-best manure, horse manure. This was very cost-effective since my parents still live on a horse ranch. Our ranch has had horses for over 100+ years, so we have access to a lot of well-composted horse manure.
Al and I borrowed his uncle’s dump trailer and headed to the ranch to get our dirt/composted manure. I forgot to get a picture of my dad, Al, and I using the tractor to scoop dirt into the back of the trailer. We had about six tractor-scoops in the back of the dump trailer.
We used over half the dirt we hauled in, and the rest was distributed in my backyard garden area. Using farm dirt/manure
comes with weird extras such as cement chunks and twines. After picking out all the extras, we filled our flower bed and are now ready to lay landscaping cloth since horse manure has a high chance of having weed seeds.
Hi Dayna,
It sounds like you are making great progress on your flowerbed! Your research on manure is interesting. I use sheep and cow manure in my garden and flowerbeds, but I did not know there were ones to use to help weed control. Thank you for sharing that; I will definitely do some reading on the different types. I cannot wait to see how your flowerbed turns out!
I was also quite surprised that different manures had different amounts of weed control.
Hey Dayna! I always find it so wild that we use animal manure to help grow plants, we do that at my grandparent’s farm and it surprises me every time. I am on the same page as Kate and didn’t know that some manure prevented weed growth better than others that is super interesting to me as well! I think it is so awesome that you were able to get the manure from your parents. I love seeing your progress and can’t wait to see the flowerbed at the end!
Thanks!!
Hey Dayna, I love watching the progress of your learning project. I had no idea about the difference in weeds based on the type of manure (I’m learning things from your learning project clearly). So, I was just wondering if you want to do my yard when you’ve finished yours??? HAHA
Haha, so I’ll probably skip making another garden bed for a while. It’s been an interesting experience, and I’m glad it’s finished now!
Hi Dayna!
I am shocked at how well manure works for growing plants! I also did not know that different animal manure would have a different amount of weed seeds in them. I will have to keep that in mind when I start gardening, haha! Your flower bed is looking amazing! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Thanks, Hailey! I was so surprised to find out that different manure could have weed seeds still alive in it.
Love the emojis in the title haha! Your decision to use horse manure from your family ranch is both practical and resourceful. It’s great to see how you’re utilizing available resources to create a healthy foundation for your flowerbed. Really great example you set for people.
Thanks!!
Hello Dayna,
It is great to see the flower bed coming along! I live on my family farm and we have cows! Every year when we corral clean we spread our manure in the garden and it is such a great fertilizer for the garden, that is FREE for many people!
Thanks!!