Manure use on wild nut & fruit plantings..

The nut & fruit trees on our property are mostly happenstance & I'm delighted to harvest them as wild grown..We have rabbit & horse manure available & wonder about adding this fertilizer to the native soil mixture...I have hazel nuts, bl.walnuts ,shag bark hickory ,pecans, elder berries, mulberries, blackberries,persimmons...I use these manures with the domestic plantings .. Rather than giving the manures to gardeners I would prefer using it ...GrannieD

I see you are in the Ozarks also.......we have mostly the same native plants here on the lower end of the Ozarks. I envy your supply of manure and I really don't know if it is a good idea or not to add it to the fruit and nuts in the forest. Ours, seem to be doing just fine without my interference...except for gathering the bounty I wonder if it might make some of them less tolerant to weather extremes here? and maybe grow too fast to be healthy? interesting question.

Hi Virginia! I would say in general it's a good idea, though I would monitor the pH of the soil to make sure the manures don't raise it. Pecans need zinc, and chestnuts suffer from iron deficiency, usually when soil pH is on the high side.

I'm in the arid west, where alkaline soils are a fact of life. Have no clue what Arkansas soils are like though. I have corrected deficiencies in the past with soluble metals spray, which returns chlorotic leaves to deep green lushness within days of application.

Good luck!

If you are fgoing to use it, than only spread it on top and not to close to trunks of trees.
They will love it!