Horsetail and bindweed in horse manure?

[Anonymous]

Hello Charles and fellow gardeners

I have heard claims by other gardeners that horse manure contains bindweed and horsetail seeds and that applying it on clean ground may result in contamination.
Do you agree with this statement? And if so how do you overcome that problem?

[charlesModerator]

Comments like you report drive me nuts!
They are so vague, you are right to wonder if there is truth in them and 99% of the time there is not. And if there were, no problem.
It all depends what seeds were in the horses’ hay, some will still be in the composted manure.
Then it it is so, so simple to either pull out any germinating weed seedlings, or hoe them off, or kill them with a rake on a dry afternoon etc.
Also while spreading manure, break it to small pieces with a fork and pull out any roots of perennial weeds.

[Anonymous]

At the time I wanted to find an argument in support of mulching/fertilising with horse manure but decided to stay silent as I am only a novice gardener and probably wouldn’t be listened to anyway!
As long as manure is free from aminopyralid I will be grateful to have some at hand to compost and spread on my beds!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and advice.

[charlesModerator]

Best of luck with that.
Its a pity that some gardeners come out with no-sense advice and its confusing for beginners like you.

[StringfellowParticipant]

Hi Lottie, sounds bit like scaremongering to me. Having dealt with a major infestation of both of these niggling weeds my plot is now 95% clean, any that pop up get hoed or troweled out; they are a fading issue. If you’re conscientious about you’re weeding you’ll be fine and certainly if you have none to start with! Good luck.

[Author]

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