Home › General Garden Advice › General Garden Advice (Sheep manure applied lightly)

General Garden Advice (Sheep manure applied lightly)

sheep manure applied lightly over the beds once a month or so during the growing season may be used advantageously. Light doses may be given as frequently as every two weeks if the growth is not too sappy nor too dark a green, outward signs of overfeeding.

In the annual garden sheep manure is excellent for use as it becomes available quickly and induces a vigorous growth. A pinch of nitrate of soda given to each newly set plant, applied after the plants have recovered from being transplanted and are once more in a growing condition, gives them a quick start. This is a very important rule to observe. Nitrate of soda is one of the most efficacious fertilizers, but must be used early in the season and with moderation. Never allow any nitrate of soda to touch the plants as it will burn the plant tissue with which it comes into direct contact. Another use for nitrate of soda is for "greening up" any plants that appear sickly. The amount applied varies with the size of the plants, young newly set seedlings requiring only a pinch or two while older plants can assimilate a larger quantity according to their size. Bone meal becomes available slowly and may be used most advantageously either in very early spring for the use of autumn-blooming plants, or in the fall for plant use the following spring. In the autumn it may be applied alone or it may be combined with the [173] top dressing of manure to bring up soils deficient in fertility or to supplement manures that are spent and poor in quality from the viewpoint of plant food but beneficial for incorporating into the garden beds on account of the humus it supplies. Liquid manure given during the growing season and at intervals of ten days or two weeks is a good flower food besides being easily made, inexpensive, and in most instances easy to obtain. Discontinue the feedings when the buds show color and resume again, two weeks after the flowers have been gathered in the case of those plants from which a second bloom is expected as, for example, delphinium and roses. Liquid manure is of greater use in the perennial garden; tender young annuals are easily destroyed by its indiscriminate use, although a weak solution may be used with very good results on the stronger growing annuals. Whenever it is applied care must be taken not to allow any to drop on the foliage or stems nor to apply when the soil is excessively dry, in the latter case there is danger of injuring the roots, while in the former, the leaves on which the liquid falls will burn and turn brown as a result.

Liquid manure is made by suspending a burlap bag containing one bushel of fresh cow manure in a 50gallon barrel of water. First make the barrel water- [174] tight by filling it up with water and allowing it to stand for 48 hours, after which time the bag of manure is added to the water and the mixture should stand for three more days before it will be ready for use. Before applying it must be diluted one-half with pure water. Keep the barrel covered when not in use.