AboutLong Island Gardener Expertise There is NO EXCUSE today for a gardener to use chemicals. Perfect Lawns? Pristine Roses? Immaculate Flowers all Summer long? If you live in the Northeast/Atlantic Coast, I'll guide you down the non-toxic road to Organica - and you will not believe how easy it can be. Yes, it can be complicated, but backing off from Ortho and Scotts is not as hard as you think. Your neighbors won't believe their eyes. I have intelligent answers on soil care, bug killing, weed control and fungus-freedom!
Experience I have college credits in horticulture and botany, and 30 years of gardening for personal pleasure. Plus I am a volunteer docent at the local botanical gardens. But a person's real gardening skills are learned from trial and error. I am strict about not using chemicals in the garden. Always have been. Always will be.
Question I WANT TO MAKE A COMPOST PILE AND HAVE ACCESS TO A CITY ZOO, WHAT ANIMAL WASTE WOULD BE BEST? ALSO, I LIVE IN CT AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO KEEP TICKS OUT OF MY YARD WITHOUT USING CHEMICALS? DEER TICKS ARE A MAJOR PROBLEM HERE. THANKS.
Answer Whether you're scooping Moose Manure or Pachyderm Poop, it's always good to enrich your Soil with Organic Matter -- Compost, Humus, Aged Manure of any zoological vegetarians (Rabbits, Horses, Cows, Chickens usually, but Sheep, Elephants, Goats and the entire animal kingdom qualifies for your shopping list, just as long as it doesn't eat meat). This is packed with Nitrogen and Potassium, and although the former (N) evaporates readily, the latter (P) tends to build up over time until there is way too much of it to be healthy.
Consider that ruminators (Sheep, Goats, Cows) grind up Weed Seeds because they chew their cud. That's a side benefit. Try to dispense with unwanted Seeds by composting well before using.
Generally, Elephant Dung is preferred in the garden as far as Manure goes when compared with other Zoo residents. I hasten to add, though, that this may simply be due to its reduced odor quality.
An essay on the internet, 'The Impact of Fertilization', includes a detailed table listing SOME animals: 'Chemical composition of excreta of different farm animals'. Here it is:
www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC526E/AC526E02.htm
They point out, 'Nitrogen in animal wastes may be in the form of NH3, NH4, NO2, the levels of which vary considerably.' This is what makes it so hard to predict the nutrient content of any Manure. Depending on what those animals ate for breakfast, or yesterday's dinner, levels are constantly changing. So you don't really know what you are getting, ever, without doing a lab analysis. And if you're going to go that far, you may as well test your Soil, instead. Which I heartily recommend after a year of amending Soil with these products.
Analysis of Manure often turns up trace nutrients: Calcium, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Magnesium. This depends on what the zookeeper or farmer feeds them with. Pig Manure contains a lot of Ammonia; it must be carefully aged before use to avoid burning roots with concentrated Nitrogen. Pig Manure is really big in China. Pig and Poultry Manure also contain the highest concentration of Potassium.
There may be another issue here. It may not matter to you personally, but for the record, we ought to point out that there are laws on the books mandating that Manure from IMPORTED livestock be burned or buried.
Technically, using your free fertilizer by fortifying your Soil with it might be considered 'burying' it for legal purposes. Just thought you ought to be aware of this potential problem. Look into it. I am not a lawyer so I cannot opine on the Connecticut statutes that might cover this.
Syracuse's Rosamond Gifford Zoo a few years ago made headlines when zookeepers announced they would be attempting to use Elephant Manure as a heating fuel. Apparently, their 6 Elephants produce a half ton of Dung -- 1000 lbs of it, in fact -- per day. If that's true, there would be PLENTY of that from any Zoo.
I would guess that Zebras produce Manure much like that of their unstriped relatives, the Horse.
Cockadoodle-DOO (from Chickens) is sold on the internet and in garden centers. One outfit is packaging 'ZooPoop' and selling it on the internet:
zoopoop.com/index.html
And it is not cheap, either.
Let's recap: Avoid omnivores and carnivores (Lions, Tigers, Monkeys). Stock up on Elephant Dung, but remember that variety is the spice of life. Experiment a little. Do some primary research. Send me your findings. You might consider submitting a proposal to your local high school to see if anyone wants to take this on as a science project. By donating the Manure, you are entitled to monitor the progress and results.
Your other question is much less complicated. We know there are certain Nematodes that target some of our creepiest crawlers, and there's a Nematode for every Tick in your Lawn. Here's one reputable supplier on the internet:
www.arbico-organics.com/beneficial-nematodes.html
Bear in mind these are more expensive than insect sprays. But they won't make you or your local fauna sick, and they are not THAT expensive. More demand, price will drop just a wee bit, and Spring won't be silent. Follow directions carefully; Nematodes are delicate.
