Another ash spreading thing

[Geez]

I didn't want to hijack the other thread about spreading ashes, but it got me to thinking. I know the ashes are good for the garden and lawn BUT I burn a lot of black walnut. I know from experience how walnut shavings and sawdust have growth inhibitors in them that stunt growth in a lot of plants. I once dumped a boxful of shavings in the middle of my garden one winter. I have clay soil and did this every winter and would till it in, in the spring to amend the soil. Worked great and the garden was great. Well, the next summer everything in the garden grew beautifully around the edges but petered down to nothing in the dead center, where I dumped those walnut shavings.
So all that to ask... are walnut ASHES bad too? Or does burning take care of the problem?

 

[wdchuck]

Burning takes care of it.

There are many walnuts on our place, the best nut droppers are around and in my garden, and on the front lawn, no issues with growth on any plants/grass yet. Though I don't mix wood in the garden at all, in the compost pile to degrade more is a good step to eliminate the growth inhibitor you speak of.

 

[Spotted Owl]

Ashes help neutralize acid soil and loosen thing up a bit. Raw wood can help but takes much longer. If I remember correctly, soft wood will put nitrogen back in the soil as it decompses. However hardwoods will take nitrogen out of the soil inorder to decompose thus pulling the good out. Burn the shavings and the spread the ashes over the garden. That should solve your problem, if you don't want to burn and spread put the shavings around something you don't like and it will in time wither and die.


Owl

 

[mga]

Ashes help neutralize acid soil and loosen thing up a bit. Raw wood can help but takes much longer. If I remember correctly, soft wood will put nitrogen back in the soil as it decompses. However hardwoods will take nitrogen out of the soil inorder to decompose thus pulling the good out. Burn the shavings and the spread the ashes over the garden. That should solve your problem, if you don't want to burn and spread put the shavings around something you don't like and it will in time wither and die.


Owl

true. where i stacked wood last year, the grass died and never grew back...even when i re-seeded. so, i bordered it with pt 2x4's, and filled it in with mulch and desinated that area for wood stacking.

must be something when the chemicals from the wood washed off onto the soil.

as for the ashes....when i clean out the "pit" in the basement, i usually fill about 3 big trash barrels that i spread all over in the woods out back.

 

[Geez]

What I used to do (before I was cutting wood for heat) get a pickup load of shavings, sawdust and bark from the local sawmill. Then I would sift out the smaller stuff for the garden and the rest was designated for decorative mulch.
When I first moved in there was a garden area where the clay was so soupy when wet, that my wife sunk up to her knee in mud and lost her flip flop. I never did find it either.
Once I started the sawdust thing, it became a great soil. The wood fibers kept the clay from compacting. I have pics of my kids hiding behind huge cabbage heads. It looked like Crockett's Victory Garden. That changed for a number of years just from that one application of walnut sawdust.
The walnut has something called Juglone in it that inhibits growth in selected plants. Some plants do just fine with it and others wither and die.
What I was wondering specifically is, has anyone had any firsthand experience with spreading walnut ashes on vegetable gardens and noticed any difference? I'd hate to do it and spend another few years waiting for it to come back.
I suppose if I have to, I could plant two identical beds and just put ashes on one, and see what happens.

 

[Spotted Owl]

Ash seem not to bother our garden area. Mostly hardwood ash, oak, elm and some walnut. I don't think it would cause harm as long as it's ash and no bigger unburnt or even charcoal chunks. To be sure though I would spread it in a small corner of the garden that is down hill from the rest. That way if some thing doesn't work only a small space would be affected, and being down hill nothing could wash to the rest with winter rains.


Owl

 

[Sprig]

Main thing to remember about ash is you really should mix it up with something like maple leaves, compost, etc. as if you just put it on in layers it'll pack into something akin to clay and prevent water seepage, so mix it up and in. I think that you have to be careful about putting it around acid loving species too, stand to be corrected on that though. I have a pit I dump mine into with the leaves I rake off the driveway (cherry, alder, maple), haven't checked it out for a couple of years but the nearby firs seem happy.



Serge

 

[wdchuck]

What I was wondering specifically is, has anyone had any firsthand experience with spreading walnut ashes on vegetable gardens and noticed any difference? I'd hate to do it and spend another few years waiting for it to come back.
I suppose if I have to, I could plant two identical beds and just put ashes on one, and see what happens.

You could try garden web.com, or thegardenhelper.com , or homesteadingtoday.com, these sites will have others who've been there/done that and will be able to provide more definitive answers.

good luck, let us know what you find out.

 

[goof008]

if you don't want to burn and spread put the shavings around something you don't like and it will in time wither and die.


Owl

I tried that, it didn't work. I couldn't get my neighbor to stand still long enough!!