Cow manure in the garden, and where not to use it

March 24, 2025

Cow manure in the garden, and where not to use it

Bagged cow manure is the cheapest way to get organic matter into a garden bed, and organic matter is what most tired backyard soil is actually short of. It feeds a bit, slowly, and that's useful. What it mainly does is change the soil itself, so a sandy bed starts holding water instead of letting it run through, and a heavy clay one opens up enough for roots to get down into it.

Composted is the word that matters

The bagged stuff is composted, which means it's been through the heat and come out stable. Fresh manure straight off a paddock is a different product entirely. It's high in ammonia and salts, and putting it round a plant will burn the roots the same way a strong fertiliser does, so if somebody offers you a trailer load of fresh manure it wants six months in a heap before it goes anywhere near a garden bed.

The other thing a hot compost does is kill weed seed. Fresh manure out of a paddock brings the paddock with it, and that is how people end up weeding for two years after one free trailer load.

How much, and how to put it in

Digging a bed over before planting, work roughly a bucket per square metre through the top 150mm or so and let it settle for a week or two before you plant into it.
Side dressing something already growing, a couple of handfuls spread round the plant and scratched in, kept off the stem.
Around fruit trees and shrubs, spread it under the canopy out towards the drip line rather than against the trunk.
Into a compost heap, it's the green side of the balance and it gets a slow heap moving again.

Water it in after you've spread it, and do it in the cool of the day rather than the middle of a hot one.

One correction to advice you'll see a lot: manure is a poor mulch on its own. It's fine textured, so it caps over and starts shedding water off the top instead of letting it through. Dig it in, then put a proper mulch over the top of it.

Where not to use it

Australian natives are the exception and it's the same exception that catches people out with every other organic fertiliser. Manure carries phosphorus, and the phosphorus sensitive natives, which is most of the Proteaceae family, so banksia, grevillea, hakea and waratah, are damaged by it. For that part of the garden the bag made for the job is Neutrog Bush Tucker.

Seedlings and seeds are the other one. Manure is too rich for germinating seed, so use a seed raising mix for that and save the manure for the bed they get planted out into.

Wash your hands

It's an animal product, so wear gloves while you're spreading it and wash your hands properly afterwards rather than just rinsing them. Wash anything you pick out of a bed that's been manured, especially leafy greens and anything you eat raw, and keep uncomposted manure away from vegetables altogether.

Shop related products

Naturally Good Cow Manure 25L. Composted and bagged, for digging through a bed.
Naturally Good Mushroom Compost 25L. The other cheap way to get organic matter in, and it lifts pH slightly.
Neutrog Cock n Bull 30L. Composted poultry and cow, pelletised, if you'd rather not handle loose manure.
Neutrog Whoflungdung Mulch 20kg. Goes over the top once the manure is dug in.

Did you know we also stock chicken manure, garden compost and gypsum by the bag in the shop. They're not all on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.

The rest of the soil improvers are in our garden centre, and the wider garden range is online. Bagged manure gets heavy quickly, so we deliver Tuesdays and Thursdays on anything bought from us, $5 around Strathalbyn and $10 on the regional run. Local delivery.

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Cow manure in the garden, and where not to use it