I was wondering how to top dress my flower beds and stuff. Since I can't plant a veggie garden this season [my horse roams free in the daytime and does not stay out of my veggie garden very well], I am adding her manure directly to my raised beds with nothing growing in them at present. Only a few weeds, but they do not matter. By the time fall or spring gets here, it should be well rotted and easy to mix into the soil. I already have other mulches in those beds. I was wondering how and when to top dress my flower beds ?
Hello N-owl-- I usually top dress my flower bed in the spring only. Sometimes I give them some "tea" that I have made from nettles, comfrey or a mixture. (I usually use this for the toms, courgettes, cucumbers and broccoli). I give the liquid "tea" or sometimes I just tear off the leaves of these plants and lie them at the base of the plants and let nature take its course. Of course there are chemical preparations available too to dress your plants with in varying degrees of N-P-K. The only thing that I top dress in the middle of the season are the roses--I do that in July. Some folks top dress their plants with compost, but there isn't an enormous amount of nutrition in that--however it adds structure and if not worked-in to the soil it can function as a mulch and perhaps keeps weeds down around the base of your plants.
Thank you for the ideas. I have heard of compost tea, and I do give my roses some chicken poo tea when I change the water every couple of days. I may try that with the horse manure also? A friend of mine used to make a tea with goat manure for her garden.
