Neighbours' manure question from a newbie please

[NatalieD]

Hi, lovely knowledgeable horse people!

May I please ask a question as a non horse owner, but with neighbors that have horses? Apologies if any of the below sounds naive and border-line idiotic but internet searches give nothing....

Picture this: Two adjacent gardens, sizeable long plots (almost an acre each), with houses on top, with the long part of the fence being shared. Tall conifers in between, maybe leylandii?, growing on our side, planted by previous owners of our house. Neighbors own several horses.

For 8 years since we moved in we had no trouble, lovely people. A month ago we gave use of our empty grandfathered stables at the very back of our plot to someone the neighbours disapprove of. After much boo-ha-ha the offending person stayed in our stables. I really thought that did not make us and our neighbours enemies. They wanted something else to happen, ok, but we never quarrelled or intentionally offended, I promise!

Enough scene setting.

Shortly after our neighbours spread fresh horse manure all along their side of the shared chain link fence, a well organised thick and steamy 300+m long pile.

As a non horse owner not so long ago from a big city I don't know what to think! Opinions please?

Is this a normal thing to do, just a bad timing to make it look like petty revenge?

Will the trees that form the screen be damaged by fresh manure? They are mature trees and manure is on one side only though.

Is it ok to be bothered by the smell (last couple of days were gorgeously warm) and with summer on the way it will only get more fragrant, I guess. Or is it a normal thing, along the lines - my land, I do whatever I want? Don't like the smell, move back to the city and smell the double-deckers?

Maybe there are some rules or regulations someone knows of, which might allow me ask to deposit the manure a bit further away from my kitchen door? To ask politely but with with background to give a bit of confidence.

Given the complicated relationship between our neighbours and users of our stables, is it even a good idea to ask the neighbours about it? Or just get used to the smell and buy a horse fly zipping thing with a blue light?

Any opinions will be much appreciated!

We are out of our depth with horse etiquette, rules and deep rooted country emotions

Thank you and apologies for a long post

Natalie

 

[Auslander]

Is it laid on beds, or onto grass? If they've just dumped it on grass, that seems really odd, as it will just encourage long grass to grow like fury! If it's on flower beds, I sort of understand it - but it's more usual to use well rotted manure on beds, which doesn't smell awful.
I'm as horsey as it's possible to be - but I would be supremely unimpressed if someone dumped fresh manure anywhere near my house!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

The farmer with the field next door to our house sprays the field with manure every year which is very smelly. He always tries to time it so that rain is due shortly after spreading as a good downpour takes the small away. This is thinly spread over the whole field to fertilise it.

 

[Gloi]

Do you know the history of what has happened between the neighbour and the people using your stables? Might be worth investigating.
The manure is unlikely to damage established trees.

 

[honetpot]

I think you may be asking the wrong group of people, most of us have a high tolerance of farmyard smell. Unless the horse as just plopped it out, I can not smell it, its dries out quickly and becomes inert, the worse smell IMO is unine soaked anything and even that dries out to virtually no smell. Old muck smells like earth.
If they have put fresh uncomposted manure, on their flower beds they are going to get the treat of every weed seed the horse had eaten in their flower beds, the heat from stacking, turning and composting manure kills weed seeds. I would just ignore them, it will dry out and be more of a problem for them.

 

[NatalieD]

Thank you for your replies! I really appreciate the sense of perspective you give!

Honetpot, thank you You are exactly the people I wanted to ask, because you understand the neighbours' side Don't want to talk to girlfriends or school gate parents who would all go 'awh my gawd, noooo! write to the council, to you MP and to the Pope!'

It is sort of a long mound, under the trees where grass does not grow anyway. Looks more like storage not fertilising, definitely not spreading.

The fields around us smell wonderfully organic in spring, true! But farmers do it with a purpose and spread it thinly, so it all blends in within a week, no?

It does not look aged, with glossy formed clumps. (Might be wrong here though, about the age)

In the pictures it is a dark mound behind the conifers' trunks.

 

[TPO]

If you've lived there for 8yrs and theyve never done anything like this before I agree that it is suspicious timing!

However not a lot that you can do about it. Their land and it's a normal practice to use rotted manure as fertiliser

I'd advise just keeping a diary of "events" so that you have an accurate record in the off chance that things escalate.

Personally I wouldn't speak to them about the manure as it's their land and a fairly normal thing to do (ignoring that theyve never done it in the previous 8yrs and this follows them being displeased with you!). If they are doing it intentionally to annoy you rising to it could possibly encourage them.

It may just be coincidental timing but I'd keep a record with photos if possible should you need it at a later point

ETA cross posted worh your reply and photos. Looks like they are using that as their muck heap storage and where they are leaving it to rot down.

 

[NatalieD]

Do you know the history of what has happened between the neighbour and the people using your stables? Might be worth investigating.
The manure is unlikely to damage established trees.

Hi Gloi, It is all a little intense here, feels like 'unless it is a proper proper offence' maybe we are better off not knowing the details? Half the neighbours on the road are passionately on one side, the other half - on the other. So far we are, like - the stables users have not done anything remotely unpleasant to us, they clean and look after things, they have three lovely kids and some people here like them so can't be entirely psycho... Surely it is not guilty untill proven? But all those people lived here all there lives. Complicated. Not Hot Fuzz complicated yet But I don't want to make it worse by, for example, saying - your horses' poo smells

Good to know that trees are likely to be ok, thank you for the peace of mind!

 

[Gloi]

It looks like they are just putting it somewhere out of the way to rot down, maybe to use as fertiliser later.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Same as TPO I wonder if it’s somewhere to let the manure rot down where they will later take it to spread thinly on their field or something like that.

I wouldn’t bother bringing it up with them as if they’ve done it to annoy you (which the timing makes it look like) then this is precisely the reaction they want.

Intrigued as to what your stable tenants have done to warrant such dislike from others though!

 

[PurBee]

Are they putting the dung by the side of your house and not on the rest of the length of the land?
That would be a cruddy thing to do to a neighbour, and timing suspicious considering your recent spat with them.
You’d have right to complain re: antisocial behaviour laws if it was being dumped next to the house when theyve got a long acre to dump it far enough away to not stink up the houses and encourage flies.

But if theyre spreading it along the entire length - theyre obviously wanting rid of it as muck piles can become large, maybe youve never noticed before due to it being more rotted down and not smelly.

The trees should be fine - ive killed a holly tree by having a large muck heap right by the side of it, literally touching the bark - but that tree was destined for removal anyway, and i was surprised the manure pile killed it - too much nitrogen will burn even mature holly trees - but the distance and amount of muck from your mature conifers - they should be fine and like the nitrogen boost!

 

[honetpot]

Thank you for your replies! I really appreciate the sense of perspective you give!

Honetpot, thank you You are exactly the people I wanted to ask, because you understand the neighbours' side Don't want to talk to girlfriends or school gate parents who would all go 'awh my gawd, noooo! write to the council, to you MP and to the Pope!'

It is sort of a long mound, under the trees where grass does not grow anyway. Looks more like storage not fertilising, definitely not spreading.

The fields around us smell wonderfully organic in spring, true! But farmers do it with a purpose and spread it thinly, so it all blends in within a week, no?

It does not look aged, with glossy formed clumps. (Might be wrong here though, about the age)

In the pictures it is a dark mound behind the conifers' trunks.

It actually looks like they are trying to mulch, leylandi are notorious for drying soils and stopping other plants from getting water. I would be more worried about the leylandii, blocking out light and rain. If they are yours, and they are over six feet they can go to the council and make you top them to six feet.

 

[Goldenstar]

It won’t damage your trees .
I think it’s as likely as not they have just put it there to compost down .

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Where are your tenants putting their muck heap? If it is up against your neighbours' fence, that could have some bearing on the siting of this muck pile

 

[JackFrost]

I'd give them the benefit of the doubt (this time ) + 'least said soonest mended'.
How long it smells depends a bit on the weather but the initial pong soon wears off, especially once it's been rained on. It does though take a while to rot down properly and on your neighbours' side will look a bit of a mess for many months.
I think it's quite possible that it has been put down to restore the soil as leylandii do seem to leave the soil very barren.

I think there is more danger of damage to the relationship in assuming the worst of them than assuming the best.
I wonder if the situation could be turned round or tested by a friendly comment asking if they find your trees are blocking out the light - ' we keep meaning to get them cut back but haven't got round to it'...etc

It must be distressing for you when your neighbours all around you are taking sides, and you do sound like a reasonable and open minded person, with the sense to navigate a way through this. My opinion - getting on with your neighbours is important, and matters more than a pile of poo.

 

[SusieT]

Spreading manure is a very acceptable countryside activity so if its on their land I would simply smile and suck it up, it is not that pleasant smelling but it will be washed in shortly.

 

[TGM]

Difficult to see from your photos, but the manure looks quite dark so probably not that fresh. The conifers do look like Leylandii which are notorious for draining the soil beside it so nothing can grow. So it is very likely that your neighbour's have put the manure down to enrich the soil so that can actually grow something in that area. I suspect the smell is heightened by the sudden warm weather. Give it a few days to dry out and it probably won't smell any more. Just my opinion as a horse-owner and keen gardener!

 

[ycbm]

Getting muck shifted is the second biggest problem I've found in having my horses at home. I'm lucky that I have no neighbours, because I have done pretty much what your neighbours have done by lining the side of my arena banking with it.

It could be totally coincidental that they chose to do it now.

You sound like a very nice person, by the way

 

[lamlyn2012]

I would also guess the manure has been put there to get some goodness back in the soil. Your neighbours may want to grow something on their side of the fence but aren't able to because of the conifers. There is a law re high, evergreen hedges. I would consider the effect on your neighbours land as this could be the cause of your problem.

 

[Gloi]

If you have just started having people using the stables on your land have you considered how their muck heap is going to be handled.

 

[Lois Lame]

If you have just started having people using the stables on your land have you considered how their muck heap is going to be handled.

This is an interesting question. The neighbours are clearly upset. I would definitely not want the smell of fresh manure wafting through my curtains, and I'm not fussy about domestic stuff, esp regarding horses.

I think you will need to have a friendly discussion with the neighbours. It sounds like they will be more than happy to tell you what the problem is. It might be an easy fix - just a question of making sure that the people renting/using your stables are doing the right thing.

Please let us know how it goes.