Wood ash has N-P-K analysis of 0-1-3.

[deerlakejens]

I was just in another thread reading about what stove owners do with their wood ashes and was surprised so many discard them. Although it can vary depending on wood type, most ashes have an analysis of 0-1-3, with the main component being calcium. This basically means they are the equivalent of a low potency fertilizer that will raise soil ph, like lime. Potassium promotes root growth in most plants, especially grasses and most vegetables, so it is ideal to spread on most lawns and gardens unless you are in an alkaline area. You still need to add nitrogen for a balanced feeding but I sure wouldn't waste any of mine. Because it has a phosphorous component, keep it out of waterways unless you enjoy growing algae.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Nice to know what the nutrient value is. It compares to most manures, but nowhere close to commercial fertilizers, but hey, it's free.

That said, most of mine winds up on the driveway for ice control. I do put what I can on the lawn and garden though.

 

[dingeryote]

Mine goes into a pile downstream from the gutter tiles, and upstream of the woodlot. Quite a bit has been scattered on the snow in the backyard to try and raise the PH of where my lawn should be. It works. I actually have weeds with some grass now.
Call me too cheap to spread a little Lime or marl on sand. I am.

Composting Chickenpoop and wood ash with leaves was my Grannys secret weapon for Veggie Garden warfare. Once it gets to the point the red worms move in, it's ready.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[John D]

Funny this is mentioned....ive been spreading mine on my lawn since I got the OWB,it seems to have helped a bit,and Ive also cut way back on fertilizing due to money,and just to see if the ashes can do a decent job...These pics are of my 12 and 10 yr old boys spreading the ashes with my large commercial spreader.They spread this in april upon initial green up...I spread about 4-5 5 gallon buckets at a time...hard part is storing the ashes,keeping the dry until i can spread them.....ill spread them on the hard snow,I dont care.....last pic was taken this fall,with zero fertilizer used this year.....this is part of my front yard...

 

[vwboomer]

I generally dumped em in the driveway this winter when there was snow, but I had a garbage can full that just went down the hill by the RR tracks. My problem is I don't have much lawn, and my ashes contain chunks. Spose I could build a screener but I don't really see it as being worth my time.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Why didn't you put this in the existing active wood ash thread?

Ian

 

[LumberjkChamp]

Funny this is mentioned....ive been spreading mine on my lawn since I got the OWB,it seems to have helped a bit,and Ive also cut way back on fertilizing due to money,and just to see if the ashes can do a decent job...These pics are of my 12 and 10 yr old boys spreading the ashes with my large commercial spreader.They spread this in april upon initial green up...I spread about 4-5 5 gallon buckets at a time...hard part is storing the ashes,keeping the dry until i can spread them.....ill spread them on the hard snow,I dont care.....last pic was taken this fall,with zero fertilizer used this year.....this is part of my front yard...

Those are some sharp looking stripes in that last pic. How many times did you go over it to burn them in like that? Looks very good for no fertilizer.

Also looks to be quite the extensive lawn. Nice and flat, great spot for decorative patterns. What kind of mower do you have for it? Got some rep. coming at you.

Just looked at your profile.....you're a greenskeeper, that explains it. Had me thinking you were an amatuer for a second.

 

[savageactor7]

Thanks for the official heads up on the chemical make up. We've been putting our in the garden for over 30 years...for what ever reason it doesn't benefit potatoes thought. Everything else is fine...

 

[CutaLot]

Thanks for the official heads up on the chemical make up. We've been putting our in the garden for over 30 years...for what ever reason it doesn't benefit potatoes thought. Everything else is fine...

Potatoes will do well in a slightly acid soil. Also, the condition called scab, a common potato ailment, thrives in alkaline soil. One reason potatoes grown in Maine do so well.

There are reports of highly alkaline gardens in the New England states due to wood burners putting their ashes in the soil for untold numbers of years. Moderation is the key.

 

[amateur cutter]

"Mine goes into a pile downstream from the gutter tiles, and upstream of the woodlot. Quite a bit has been scattered on the snow in the backyard to try and raise the PH of where my lawn should be. It works. I actually have weeds with some grass now.
Call me too cheap to spread a little Lime or marl on sand. I am."

Hey DY. have you ph tested your soil. Believe it or not most of our MI sand is actually alkaline in ph. That being said the P value of wood ash is good for most plants & all varieties of cool season turf grass. Because ash is a pure organic product what tends to happen is as the ash decomposes it also helps to release more of the P already bound up in the soil. WOW! my whole education didn't go to waste after all.:greenchainsaw: A C

 

[John D]

Those are some sharp looking stripes in that last pic. How many times did you go over it to burn them in like that? Looks very good for no fertilizer.

Also looks to be quite the extensive lawn. Nice and flat, great spot for decorative patterns. What kind of mower do you have for it? Got some rep. coming at you.

Just looked at your profile.....you're a greenskeeper, that explains it. Had me thinking you were an amatuer for a second.

Thank you for the compliments....it took me 10 yrs to get the lawn in up there,but its worth it.... I cut with 2 Dixie Chopper's. The one I used that day is a XXWD 5000 ,yanmar 50hp turbodiesel 72" cut. I cut that lawn at about 8-10 mph,and I keep it at 4" height,cut it when it gets around 6-7" tall.Its thick like a carpet,so it looks like its kept low,until you step on it. Its a kentucky blue mix i put it in in 06,hardest part is KBG takes 3 weeks to establish....so it takes time but it is worth it.I havent noticed the grass looking hungry since i went to the ashes....moneys been tight here i used to fert 3x a yr,and weed control once,but i havent put fert on since 07 now,and its still looking great,KBG likes to be well fed,so it appears the ashes are adding nutrients to the soil that the grass is able to uptake..

 

[Blackjack1234]

I used to throw the wood ashes on my garden but then I noticed dead spots - getting it down too thick!!! Now the ashes go in the road ditch.

You guys that spread them on your driveway, do the really help? Do you end up dragging the ash into your garage once it starts melting?

 

[John D]

I used to throw the wood ashes on my garden but then I noticed dead spots - getting it down too thick!!! Now the ashes go in the road ditch.

You guys that spread them on your driveway, do the really help? Do you end up dragging the ash into your garage once it starts melting?

My dad spread them on his driveway,only thing is it turns to a glue like paste and tracks everywhere......they do work good though,esp for free.

 

[Jon E]

I dumped two small tractor buckets worth of wood ashes (maybe 35 - 40 gallons total) in my compost pile last winter. That, along with kitchen scraps and a whole lot of leaves and some sawdust, made up my compost. I don't have a lawn yet, so no green stuff (well, very little) in the pile.

Anyway, I should have taken pictures. I dug into that pile in August and September and that pile was probably 20% worms by volume. I mean WORMS, big, 6-8" long nightcrawlers, just loving that stuff and leaving their worm poop all through the pile. I pulled out two full tractor buckets of black compost in November and added it to my topsoil pile. THIS year I'm going to have a garden and a lawn, and I think the ash is a major contributor to it.

A neighbor has a horse farm, and they have about a thousand yards of old horse manure and bedding in a big pile, they can't even get rid of it there's so much. I am going to ask for permission to raid the pile, I know which end has the oldest stuff, gonna mix that into the compost pile too. I expect to have one heck of a veggie garden within the next 2-4 years.

Don't throw the ash away, in any case. Compost, lawn or traction, but try not to just throw it out unless you have no choice.

 

[numnuts]

Never knew. To think of the mess that I dealt with. I put 'em in a small bucket, then bag 'em after a couple of days and pitch 'em in the trash.....would've been a ton easier to spread over my 3 acre lawn.

 

[hausfire]

The local dump needs PH too

 

[Steve NW WI]

Blackjack, I put mine on the hill that my turnaround is on, but avoid using it near the doors. I use salt near the doors, because ash does track quite a bit. It's hard to beat from a traction standpoint though.

My soil is acidic, and I've got the reciepts from the local lime quarry to prove it! The front lawn and the garden got a good coating before the snow flew, we will see what it looks like in the spring. I'm not too worried about overapplying on the garden, because that gets mixed into the soil well with the plow in spring, but I could see having troubles on the lawn.

 

[dingeryote]

I dumped two small tractor buckets worth of wood ashes (maybe 35 - 40 gallons total) in my compost pile last winter. That, along with kitchen scraps and a whole lot of leaves and some sawdust, made up my compost. I don't have a lawn yet, so no green stuff (well, very little) in the pile.

Anyway, I should have taken pictures. I dug into that pile in August and September and that pile was probably 20% worms by volume. I mean WORMS, big, 6-8" long nightcrawlers, just loving that stuff and leaving their worm poop all through the pile. I pulled out two full tractor buckets of black compost in November and added it to my topsoil pile. THIS year I'm going to have a garden and a lawn, and I think the ash is a major contributor to it.

A neighbor has a horse farm, and they have about a thousand yards of old horse manure and bedding in a big pile, they can't even get rid of it there's so much. I am going to ask for permission to raid the pile, I know which end has the oldest stuff, gonna mix that into the compost pile too. I expect to have one heck of a veggie garden within the next 2-4 years.

Don't throw the ash away, in any case. Compost, lawn or traction, but try not to just throw it out unless you have no choice.

Do yourself a favor and skip the horsepoop for the lawn and Garden unless ya like fighting weeds.

Half the damn weeds out there germinate BETTER after running through a critter, and horses eat all of em!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[LumberjkChamp]

Thank you for the compliments....it took me 10 yrs to get the lawn in up there,but its worth it.... I cut with 2 Dixie Chopper's. The one I used that day is a XXWD 5000 ,yanmar 50hp turbodiesel 72" cut. I cut that lawn at about 8-10 mph,and I keep it at 4" height,cut it when it gets around 6-7" tall.Its thick like a carpet,so it looks like its kept low,until you step on it. Its a kentucky blue mix i put it in in 06,hardest part is KBG takes 3 weeks to establish....so it takes time but it is worth it.I havent noticed the grass looking hungry since i went to the ashes....moneys been tight here i used to fert 3x a yr,and weed control once,but i havent put fert on since 07 now,and its still looking great,KBG likes to be well fed,so it appears the ashes are adding nutrients to the soil that the grass is able to uptake..

Dixie Chopper....the worlds fastest lawn mower. And cutting at 8-10 mph ground speeds is fast.

I was wondering what your HOC was before you mentioned it. I keep mine
2 5/8" - 3". So many people go too low thinking it will make the lawn look smoother. I'd like to go higher myself but the little walk behinds will only go up to 3". My big mower goes to 5 1/2" but when I go and trim I like the heights to match up.

Keep up the nice Kentucky Blue plot.

 

[John D]

Dixie Chopper....the worlds fastest lawn mower. And cutting at 8-10 mph ground speeds is fast.

I was wondering what your HOC was before you mentioned it. I keep mine
2 5/8" - 3". So many people go too low thinking it will make the lawn look smoother. I'd like to go higher myself but the little walk behinds will only go up to 3". My big mower goes to 5 1/2" but when I go and trim I like the heights to match up.

Keep up the nice Kentucky Blue plot.

Thank you for the compliments, 8-10 mph is very comfortable on my lawn,the diesel chopper runs about 13 mph flat out,so 8 mph is very easy,it depends on how thick it is when i cut it,as to how fast i cut.