ash pile

[big_z]

I have collected quite an ash pile over the years and I want to reduce it as its getting difficult to dump onto. My first thought it to haul it back into the woods and spread it out but wondered if there was any other uses or recommendations for disposal. Difficult to tell in picture but probably 5 ft high at peak and maybe 8ft diameter at base:

 

[salecker]

I dump mine on the edge of the gravel pad that my garage, boiler room, and wood shed is built on.
Slowly making the pad bigger

 

[Branimal]

I have collected quite an ash pile over the years and I want to reduce it as its getting difficult to dump onto. My first thought it to haul it back into the woods and spread it out but wondered if there was any other uses or recommendations for disposal. Difficult to tell in picture but probably 5 ft high at peak and maybe 8ft diameter at base:

My ash pile is on a slope from my yard (house sits on a narrow ridge with hill sides east and west). In the summer I take a gravel rake and push the pile downhill so it's level with the edge of the yard and is relatively flat. Now I have a nice large, flat space to dump ashes every winter.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Wood Ash uses

 

[DonTee]

^Ash toothpaste. Lol

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Put in on marketplace. Gardeners may want it for their beds.

 

[big_z]

Wood Ash uses

Wow quite a list. Some of those I may try but most of them need only small amounts. Still might as well use what I have avialable.

 

[stoveliker]

That years old pile will have its nutrients mostly leached out by the rain already - so gardeners would see small to no help from it.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

That years old pile will have its nutrients mostly leached out by the rain already - so gardeners would see small to no help from it.

I agree, but letting folks know ahead of time and storing in metal trash cans could be worth while for future ash.

 

[John Mihevic]

I don't know how long your ash pile has been there, but if you are dumping new ash, it can be very good for your garden. -- especially if it is "basic". Wood ash has a PH of 10- 12. So if your soil is all ready acidic, don't use it. But, if your soil needs to be a little more acidic, there is no cheaper way to do it.

 

[stoveliker]

Correct idea, almost correct wording: wood ash is very basic. So if your soil is TOO acidic, the (fresh) ashes are a cheap way to lower the acidity.

Acid is pH <7, basic is pH>7.
Ashes increase the pH of the soil.

 

[John Mihevic]

Thanks for the correction Stoveliker. Many times I flip things around. Glad you caught my mistake.