Cow Manure or horse Manure? – The Answer

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These pictures, both taken today, show two beds of dahlias, growing side by side, which were planted out at the same time but which have grown at very different rates. The top picture shows dahlias grown in soil which was given a mulch of cow manure and the bottom picture shows dahlias grown with a mulch of horse manure. I’m surprised by how much more fertile the cow manure has turned out to be. As I wrote in February (see here) I was forced to buy some cow manure because my usual supplier of horse manure had run out. I was afraid it would be full of weeds, and this turned out to be the case, mainly grass and nettles. But the faff of pulling out the weeds is more than compensated for by the magnificent power of the fertiliser. The horse manure is weed free and also looks much better when it’s first applied but I don’t think I’ll be so sniffy about using cow manure in the future.