Waste. A by-product. But also fertilizer that you have at hand and completely free. “Wood ash is a treasure for the garden,” says Jana Bucharová in the podcast consultation. However, this does not apply in all cases.
You can find the podcast advice in the audio version here:
If you heat your home most of the winter, you definitely don’t want to pour all the ash into the bin. Although it is from that, but there is still a lot of it. And isn’t it better to sprinkle it on the compost or directly in the garden? “Wood ash is a great material and enriches the garden with a number of important substances,” says Jana Bucharová, an expert in the magazine Receptář on garden topics, in the podcast. “But you have to watch what’s really in the ashes.”
Rare elements
As for the soil, ash definitely benefits it. It contains a number of elements that today’s soil is largely losing, and ash is one of the ways to enrich it again. “Perhaps very rare potassium, but also others including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus,” the expert lists.
In larger quantities, you should not give it only to plants that clearly do not like alkaline soil, for example heathers, rhododendrons, azaleas or berries. “Otherwise, a little bit won’t hurt anywhere and will definitely do good for herbs and other perennials,” adds Jana Bucharová. And he recommends one more tip – sprinkle ash on the bottom of the chicken coop, where it absorbs moisture and odors.
Pay attention to the composition
You can also ash. Feel free to store it in one place during the winter and add it to the composter in the spring when you are turning the whole mass. But it only applies to real wood ash. Whether it is made of hard wood, soft wood, fruit trees or conifers, it does not matter at all. But what should not get into the soil is ash from wood burned with coal. “It would acidify the soil too much, and in addition, substances that have no business in it, such as sulphur, would penetrate into it. It really belongs in the dustbin,” adds the expert.
