good to be here.
I'm going to plant roses in my garden, I have a lot of old horse manure-
any feedback? I haven't the machinery to plough or till, so I will rake the ground by hand,
wait till all frost has gone and then plant my roses.....I like wild rambling roses...

Hi Annabel, this might be a better question to post into the Roses forum. The nutty gardeners here are more focused on birds and butterflies. The rose nuts will be over here:
http://garden.org/forums/view/...

Also be aware that starting a new thread each time you have a question might delay getting an answer. If you post your question into an existing thread that lots of people are watching, you'll get answers right away.

Annabel, I have asked one of the admins to move your thread to the Rose forum where it is more appropriate. This forum is dedicated to gardening for birds, butterflies, and other pollinators, like bees.

to ATP!

@annabel_di ...

To ATP ...

Your plan is just fine. Roses love horse manure. There is no need to till it into the soil. The longer it is out there, the longer Nature has time to decompose the manure further and rain will leach nutrients into the soil.

The soil in my garden in the mountains of northern California has improved from dead soil to active soil just by putting organic material on top of the soil and I have never tilled the soil.

Tilling just brings up weed seeds and makes more work for you!
Take a look at some of the Fairy Tale series of roses. They bloom longer than old ramblers, aND are easy to care for. I think you might like them!
Sorry I can't add a link, I'm on my phone, but the ATP database has lots of great photos.
Lucky you, with the aged horse manure...it's the best!

Annabel. You will find real founts of knowledge here - some amazing people contribute to these discussions.

Annabel!

I echo Lyn's advice If I were starting a new garden, a bunch of horse manure would be my first choice. I recall a thread (can't recall which forum at the moment) where a member described creating a raised bed of entirely fresh horse manure. As an experiment, she planted several perennials immediately. She reported that everything thrived.

Thankyou all for your feedback, and for posting this in the right place.! Great advice, I will try the raised bed as I have tons of manure. Great

gemini_sage said: Annabel!

I echo Lyn's advice If I were starting a new garden, a bunch of horse manure would be my first choice. I recall a thread (can't recall which forum at the moment) where a member described creating a raised bed of entirely fresh horse manure. As an experiment, she planted several perennials immediately. She reported that everything thrived.

Neal ... even fresh horse manure is partially decomposed ...