Last Updated on November 12, 2021 by Real Men Sow
Fire helps get rid of perennial weeds, diseased materials, and the branches which are too thick for the shredder and provide you with ash. You may wonder if there are any good ideas for ashes in the garden or should simply throw them away. Let’s go through tips to reuse wood ashes and grow your vegetable plants better.
Is wood ash good for a garden?
Wood Ash contains potassium which is a vital nutrient for your crops. Potassium helps regulate your plants’ water balance and helps your plant transport their food within them. They help create sugars and starches too. If there’s not enough potassium for your crops, they’re vulnerable to drought, frost, pests, and diseases.
Best Ideas for Ashes in Garden to Grow Plants Better
Adding Ashes to your Compost Heap
Wood Ashes aids fertility but don’t add a lot of them all at once because the alkaline and higher pH might damage the bacteria and worms in your seed compost. If you’re composting a lot of acidic material (ex: fruit wastes), your wood ashes will help lower the pH level and reduce the necessity for liming vegetable plots.
Use Wood Ashes in Garden as a Lime Substitute
Wood Ashes are alkaline, they’re likely a good substitute for lime. Home-produced wood ash isn’t standardized because it has various contents. Hardwoods have more nutrients than softwood, then Bonfire ash has a mix of plant tissue.
Make sure to check the pH level of your soil before adding ashes to your soil after adding some three or six months ago.
Knowing your soil puts you in a great garden advantage, make sure you also know common facts about soil.
Adding Ashes Directly to Garden Soil
Slugs and Snails can be kept out once you’ve sprinkled wood ash onto your soil, however, the effect stops once it gets wet. Add them to soil by spreading them around to the areas of root vegetables and fruits. Don’t miss out on more tips on getting rid of slugs and snails!
Worst Ideas for Ashes in Your Garden
Soil that has a pH level of 7.5 or greater isn’t the place to put wood ash due to it being alkaline. Acid-loving plants’ soil isn’t a great idea either. Too much wood ash can encourage fungus and potato scab to soil intended for potatoes. Getting your wood ash wet would make it useless, therefore, you should keep it dry. A large amount of ash would risk damaging plants near it.
