Disposing of ash

I put mine in my compost.


fv

I can't help you . . . I tend to spread a good deal of my ash on my driveway in the winter for traction and ice melting . . . the rest either gets spread out on the lawn and garden or dumped in a pile in the woods in a large hole.

I just pile it up around Trees , dump in flower beds, thow out on grass, I don't think too much anywhere hurts anything. :zip:

I dumped mine in a pile in the woods up until last year, never hurt anything. This year I spread about 40 gallons on my lawn to help raise the soil PH and get rid of some moss, since I learned here that a mossy lawn is the sign of low PH and dry soil. So far, so good.

I guess if the soil under your lawn is acidic, spreading more ash would help, if not, more ash could hurt.

A 50 gallon barrel of ashes is not that much nor does it take much time to spread out. We also keep our ashes in barrels and then in the spring I take the barrels out to the gardens. They are tipped on their side and then I start rolling them and also tipping up the bottom from time to time to get more ashes out. After the barrel or barrels are empty, I then take a shovel and just sort of make a few swipes across the ashes to spread them out. This is best done when there is only a small breeze rather than no breeze as it will blow the dust away from you as you spread them. All in all, it takes me maybe 15 minutes to get the job done.

Dumping the ashes in a pile can kill off a few things but only stunt others. I try to stay away from doing this though. It is better to make good use out of the ashes. And if you have too many ashes for the vegetable garden, perhaps you flower gardens might like some ashes too. We always used to spread creosote in flower gardens but we no longer have that stuff!

I just pour mine in a perimeter around the garden. Keeps the slugs out.

kettensäge said:

This year I spread about 40 gallons on my lawn to help raise the soil PH and get rid of some moss, since I learned here that a mossy lawn is the sign of low PH and dry soil. .

Click to expand...

Hadn't heard/seen that. I have quite a bit of moss. gotta try this one next spring.

Shawn

I have spread several ash-bucket fulls around the foundation, during the course of the wood-burning season. I, of course, made quite sure they were cold. I heard that that would keep out ants and mice, of all things. Every year, we have to get the ant poison out to kill the ants ( they love us for some strange reason), but this year, so far, no ants. I hope that writing this here hasn't jinxed me and wake up tomorrow up to my neck in ants.

shawneyboy said:

kettensäge said:

This year I spread about 40 gallons on my lawn to help raise the soil PH and get rid of some moss, since I learned here that a mossy lawn is the sign of low PH and dry soil. .

Click to expand...

Hadn't heard/seen that. I have quite a bit of moss. gotta try this one next spring.

Shawn

Click to expand...

Copper works great too but I don't know how you would use it on a lawn. For roofs though, a little copper in the top will keep the moss away.

I sweep the ask into the cracks between my patio stones. The pH is shifted enough by hte ash that it prevents seeds of weeds from germinating between the stones.

shawneyboy said:

kettensäge said:

This year I spread about 40 gallons on my lawn to help raise the soil PH and get rid of some moss, since I learned here that a mossy lawn is the sign of low PH and dry soil. .

Click to expand...

Hadn't heard/seen that. I have quite a bit of moss. gotta try this one next spring.

Shawn

Click to expand...

It did kill the moss where I put it on heavy enough. (not buried but covered, a good thick dusting). I started in the front where there is no moss, and by the time I got to the back I only had about 3 or 4 gals. left, so it went on thin in spots.

You will have to rake up the dead moss to let the grass fill in the bare spots.

On second thought I'm not sure if I read it here but it was on the net, the ash has the same basic effect as garden lime.

Moss is beautiful. Up close, you can see it blooms, has many fantastic varieties, and is a delight. Don't get me started on lichens. I scatter the ash back in the woods to return the minerals that were removed with the trees. My dad did the same for years. No noticeable negative effects. By the way, I am not a plant guy, so it might not be moss that we have that blooms. My interest started in an unusual way.

I had a construction project in a temperate rain forest that was near some protected "golden" moss. We constructed drainage structures to intercept excess runoff and protect the moss. Visitors always asked to see the moss. We had a regular nature trail. It was ordinary green moss with brilliant blooms that turned the forest floor gold. Fantastic. The only thing I knew was if the moss died, I was in deep doo doo. As far as I know, the moss survives to this day.

You probably don't have this problem, but I burn some cut up pallets in my stove, so my ash ends up with nails in it. I usually throw it in a dumpster at work but one day a few years ago I had a brain freeze and threw the bucket onto my gravel driveway. I spent the next couple of hours picking nails out of the gravel.

Same here, full of nails, staples, etc. I let it cool a few weeks and toss in the dumpster at work. I do the same with teh ash out of my burn barrel as well.

If you do need to spread it quickly, over a large area...get a wide-mouthed bucket full...spin in place and let centrifugal force do the work. Hold your breath though. Run away.

my local dump takes the ashes in their brush and leave pile.
I wait a few months after the burning season is over.... just to be sure.
dont need to burn down the dump....

Always dump it in my garden and mix it in come springtime. Never had bad tomato plants from it, despite them liking acidic soil.

I spread it with the "fling" method like ploughboy. Small bucket- "wee!" all over the place.

Do the same out in the woods if you want to get rid of it.

I dump my kiln ash in an area where poison ivy grows- I think I've killed it finally.