Ashes in the Organic Garden
Use Fireplace Ashes as Soil Amendment and Pest Control
Ashes are a source of nutrients and a natural pest repellent in the organic garden.
If you heat your home with a wood stove, or you enjoy roasting hotdogs and marshmallows in the fireplace on a Saturday night with your family, you are producing material for your organic garden you can use in several ways.
Fertilize with Ashes
Wood ashes are a rich source of potassium, which plants need to produce fruits and flowers. Use them in your flower or vegetable garden, but don’t add them to acid loving plants like blueberries, azaleas, or rhododendrons. You can also add ashes to your compost bin, but be aware that the potassium content in the ashes leaches out readily when the ashes get wet, so you will lose the potash value.
Reduce Soil Acidity
Wood ashes can sweeten the soil if soil tests show that your soil is too acidic. You can spread several pounds of ashes over each 100 square feet of garden soil. You don’t need to till the ashes into the soil; let rainwater and earthworms draw the matter downward.
Repel Garden Pests
Store the ashes you generate in the winter in a dry place so you can kill some of the pests that feast on lush spring growth. Sprinkle aphid-infested plants with handfuls of ashes. You must fill a piece of cheesecloth or a pantyhose tube with ashes and shake a fine suffocating powder over affected plants. Wash the plants off after a few days. Ashes also repel slugs and garden snails. Sprinkle a thick protective ring around the base of susceptible plants.
Heat the Cold Frame and Greenhouse
Shovel your warm ashes into an iron, copper, or clay chimenea in your greenhouse to provide enough warmth to keep temperatures above freezing in a small cool greenhouse. If you maintain a cold frame, this small space can also benefit from the ashes’ warmth. Place the ashes in an old copper pot with a lid. The ashes and embers radiate heat that the cold frame will trap until the next night.
Rid Birds of Parasites
Wild and domesticated birds enjoy taking an ash bath to smother the parasites that dwell amongst their feathers. Thank the wild birds that provide pest control in your organic garden by placing a shallow basin of ashes near your birdfeeders. Replace the ashes frequently. If you keep chickens on your property, they can also benefit from a shallow crate of ashes to bathe in. Keep the ashes in a sheltered area, and change them if they get damp.
Natural Alternative to Salt in Winter
Although ashes won’t help winter ice to melt the way salt can, ashes can make treacherous surfaces easier to navigate. Salt damages garden plants, so apply a thick layer of ashes on driveways and paths to give your feet a better purchase in slippery conditions.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like to read how to use coffee grounds in your organic garden.
