Blackberries will grow almost anywhere and that’s part of the appeal. This tolerant berry thrives in the poorest of soils in the wild but is happier and more successful in nitrogen-rich soil containing abundant natural substances. Adding horse manure for your own berry patch is an inexpensive, natural way to provide your berry vines together with the nutrients that they need.
Manure
Horse manure isn’t a luxury object. If you own horses, then they will provide you with more than enough for your gardening requirements. If you do not, friends or neighbors with horses are often happy to have others haul away manure. Horse manure is very valuable in your garden because it contains adequate organic materials to amend the soil, but also provides healthy doses of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the principal nutrients in each plant fertilizer.
Amending Soil
Although blackberries will tolerate poor soil, they cannot develop in heavy, wet soil. Well-drained soil is a must for blackberry vines and also the more natural materials soil contains, the more freely it allows water to pass through. Horse manure is composed of hay, grass and grain, all natural materials that can build soil structure and enhance aeration.
Composting
Raw manure has a lot of qualities which make it an unattractive option for fertilizer: It smells awful, attracts flies and is really concentrated in nutrients which it burns plants. It is simple to compost manure to remove these issues. Should you mix equal quantities of horse manure and dry organic material, such as hay or dead leaves, squeezing and turning the pile each month, in four to six months you will have excellent composted manure that’s dry, flaky and odorless. You can amend your berry patch soil by working in 4 inches of composted manure into the soil prior to planting.
Mulch
In case your blackberry plants lack vigor, adding nitrogen to the soil will give them a boost. In spring following planting, you can layer about 3 inches of composted manure over the soil, keeping it a few inches away from the young vines. This mulch will leach nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil, as well as holding down weeds and maintaining soil humidity. Replenishing the mulch in autumn will add extra nourishment and regulate soil temperature.