Planting Under Trees - Part 1: I'd be inclined to do some layering to encourage the straw and n

» Marge_Talt - I'd be inclined to do some layering to encourage the straw and n

I'd be inclined to do some layering to encourage the straw and newspaper to rot. No reason not to put manure on top. When you get ready to plant, you'll need to dig it all over anyway. Only negative I can think of is that any weed seeds in the manure (and it's likely to have a number) will germinate for you if its the top layer.

I'd be inclined to put in a layer of say newspaper; some manure; some straw; some manure; some newspaper; some manure, and just keep repeating the layers until I filled up the trench.. And, to speed up things, I'd water as I layer. You need to water the straw and newspaper for sure or they just sit there and don't rot down and even a good rain won't wet them thoroughly.

It also wouldn't hurt to throw in a light layer of soil periodically - just a dusting, really, but that helps because the soil contains all kinds of microbes and stuff.

You're basically doing some sheet composting or trench composting here, so you can also throw in any weeds or veggie scraps or what have you. If you keep it moist and with all that nice fresh manure, it should rot down nicely by the end of the summer and for sure by next spring when you want to plant stuff. You don't want this sodden, but moist, like a wrung out sponge. The microbes that digest the materials in compost have to have a film of water on the particles to move around and do their stuff, but if you get it too soggy, it mats down and turns anaerobic which smells to high heaven.

Marge

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-- posted by Marge_Talt