Wood ash is helpful in the garden. Commonly used as a soil amendment, it is a good source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium.
Wood ash is the powdery substance that remains after burning wood [1]. If you don’t have a fireplace, burning an outdoor pile of dry wood is all it takes to make wood ash.
Below are some benefits of using wood ashes in the garden—for plants, soil, and more.
1. Natural Fertilizer
Plants need a variety of essential nutrients to thrive. Some of these can be found in wood ashes.
To effectively use wood ash as fertilizer, apply 10 to 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet of soil. It is suitable for asparagus, leeks, beets, tomatoes, roses, and fruit trees.
2. Add to Compost
Gardeners hope for a healthy compost pile. Adding small amounts of ashes from the wood fire will help keep it healthy by maintaining the compost’s neutral condition.
The smell of ashes also deters wildlife, such as bears, who would otherwise consider the compost a free buffet.
Also, check the middle of the compost before adding ashes and again a month later. You will find that it contains a more significant number of hard-working composting worms.
3. Garden Lime Substitute
You can use fireplace ash as a substitute for agricultural lime.
Garden lime is used agriculturally to raise soil pH. Therefore, use your fireplace ashes instead of paying for garden lime at the farm store.
4. Slug Repellent
Slugs and snails move more efficiently when the soil is wet, while dry surfaces make free movement difficult.
When applied to a damp surface, ashes soak up moisture. Thus, the theory is that slugs and snails will stay away from plants and soil treated with wood ash.
5. Raise Soil pH Levels
Another benefit of using wood ash for plants is that it raises soil pH.
This happens thanks to the calcium in wood ash, which raises soil pH [2]. However, you will need to replenish it after heavy rain.
6. May Prevent Blossom End Rot
Plants with visible signs of blossom end rot require higher calcium levels to prevent recurring problems. Therefore, mixing some fire pit ashes after soil testing could be beneficial, as they contain calcium.
7. Helps Prevent Frost Damage
To protect your plants from frost damage, apply a light dusting of wood ash. The mineral salts in wood ash can help lower the freezing point of water without damaging the plants’ tissues.
8. Keep Chicken Feathers Clean
Anyone with chickens knows just how much they enjoy bathing in the dust. It is their primary way of keeping their feathers clean.
Therefore, make a bathing box for your chickens and put it inside the coop. Use either sand or soil and mix in some ashes.
Wood ash will also deter parasites like lice, fleas, and mites.
9. Freshen Up the Chicken Coop
Since wood ash is alkaline, it can assist in neutralizing poop odors when sprinkled throughout a chicken coop. The same principle applies to baking soda when used around the home or to keep odors from refrigerators.
Fire ashes also help prevent parasites that could otherwise be a nuisance in the chicken coop and the farm.
10. Ant Repellent
Many people are looking for non-toxic ways to get rid of ants in their gardens and homes. Hardwood ash can help.
Therefore, place a thick layer over the openings to ant hills in your yard and garden and near cracks they use to enter the house. Check daily to make sure the holes are still covered. If not, reapply.
The ants will get tired of digging out their hole daily and move on to more manageable quarters. The ash will also suffocate them as they try to crawl through it.
11. Chicken Feed Supplement
Adding wood ashes to their food is a free and natural way to give your chickens more calcium and potassium. You’ll only need a small amount—less than a 1% ratio.
This may also reduce manure smells and extend a hen’s laying capabilities longer than usual.
You can also add small amounts of charcoal to chicken waterers. This will filter the water, reduce odors, and absorb toxins.
12. Repels Cucumber Beetles
Make a spray by combining a handful of fire ash with a gallon of water. Spray your cucumbers and other cucurbits to keep cucumber beetles away.
Essential Nutrients That Wood Ash Contains
Most people would be surprised to learn how many nutrients are in wood stove ash. Far from being a waste product that needs disposal, it has true value in the garden.
Wood ashes contain four essential minerals that plants need.
- Phosphorous
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
Some soils naturally lack these minerals in abundance, while others need fortification.
Minerals like sodium and magnesium are also found in ashes. You will also find much smaller amounts of copper, boron, sulfur, zinc, and molybdenum.
However, while wood ash has a bit of everything, it lacks nitrogen. Therefore, add a specialty supplement or fertilizer containing nitrogen in areas with nitrogen-poor soil.
Plants That Grow Well in Soil Containing Wood Ash
Vegetables like artichokes, cauliflower, chives, arugula, spinach, lettuce, and collards do well in garden soil that contains ash.
Wood ash is also suitable for flower gardens. Flowering plants that like wood ashes include lavender, hydrangeas, peonies, and roses.
However, please do not use it on crops like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, raspberries, and blueberries. Firewood ash is also not good for rhododendrons, marigolds, nasturtiums, and azaleas, as these plants prefer acidic soil.
Therefore, before adding wood ash to plants or the surrounding soil, purchase a soil test kit and test the pH of your soil.
Takeaway
Now that you know what to do with wood ash, find a storage spot to keep it dry during the winter. By spring, you should have a decent supply set aside to use in the garden and on your lawn.
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