I have an area where we have burned brush for several years, and finally cleaned it up. There was a large pile of half ash, half compost and some fresh grass clippings and shredded leaves. I didn't know what to do with the mess, so I just spread it out all over about 3-4 inches deep. I would like to plant some red cedars, red buds, wegielas and some burning bushes, maybe some pampas grasses. Will the ash hurt the plants?
I seriously doubt it. Sounds like you have the makings of a 'brush fire' in plant growth there.
cool.
I just thought maybe the ash would be bad on the new plants. The ash is pretty fresh, this past spring.
Have you ever seen the vigorous growth after a grass fire or forest fire? Ash is good.
Oh, great! Thanks so much!
I just bought my house and the guy that remodeled I guess would burn the left over wood and such, TONS of ash, I watered the ash into the ground and spread tons of grass seed, that grass growing in those spots are growing much more vigorous than the rest of the lawn :) I would say so!
Josh
Wood ash increases the pH. You might want to get the soil tested for that. Evergreens prefer acid soil, so evergreens might not be the best choice for this area. Check the preferences of plants before deciding what goes in there.
I have to 'second' Granite's comment. Check your pH before you plant anything- it could be pretty high, and not much likes it that way!
One burned brushpile isn't going to change the pH of the underlying soil.
This wasn't just one brushpile--sounds like it was multiple years worth of burning. So if the soil was already on the alkaline side, this could have made it more alkaline...maybe not a ton more alkaline, but enough that it wouldn't be a good idea to plant things that want acidic soil without testing the soil first. Could be that the soil was a bit acidic to begin with or very close to neutral and in that case it may not be too alkaline for that type of plants but it's absolutely worth checking.
This was only there for one year.
Was only burned once, although we have dumped grass clippings on it for one year.
We used to have a pile in another area of the yard, but we moved to this spot last year, and got rid of the old pile.
Well let me know how it goes! :)
It'll be fine lilly. Don't worry. :-)
Of course, it completely ddepends on how much wood ash you actually have there. Only you know. I think it has a pH of between 9.5 and 10.4, so mixed in to acidic soil it could help raise it to neutral.
It could raise it toward neutral. But only temporarily. The soil will revert back to its original pH pretty quickly.
