Ash disposal?

[fossil]

...Do you separate out the weasel ashes or have a mixed ceremony?

Not weasels...ferrets. And no, of course we don't separate out the ashes, you silly raptor, but we do pay appropriate homage to the little mammals that helped us keep our stovepipes squeaky clean.

...The other day, I had two full-grown bobcats, obvious male and female, parade across my lawn not 100 feet from me in broad daylight. I would have choked on the insects that flew into my open mouth while I was standing there, except that I had luckily stopped breathing also.

Holey moley! Rick

 

[fossil]

Actually, there's one in my front yard right now. I'm pretty sure it's a male. I managed to sneak up and take this pic. I think it's asleep. Rick

 

[gyrfalcon]

Actually, there's one in my front yard right now. I'm pretty sure it's a male. I managed to sneak up and take this pic. I think it's asleep. Rick

That's a fine-looking beast, Rick. Wouldn't mind having one o' those around myself just in case the other ones come back and start making hungry eyes at my three pussycats. Bobcats, the warm-blooded ones, are impressive as hell-- big, heavily muscular, tough-looking-- except when you have your own animals and want to keep them, they're terrifying.

My auto mechanic, who's about a mile down the road, says he's very familiar with them and that the big male is bold as brass, walks right up the middle of his drive and sometimes hangs out under one of his trucks waiting for something tasty to come by. The small but determined goon population around here had one of their periodic coyote shooting parties this winter and killed off a good bit of the local packs, so the rabbit population is way up this summer, which makes the bobcats very happy and very interested in reproducing again before winter. I think what I saw was the preliminaries to the foreplay before the deed that will lead to more bobcats this fall.

 

[gyrfalcon]

...Do you separate out the weasel ashes or have a mixed ceremony?

Not weasels...ferrets. And no, of course we don't separate out the ashes, you silly raptor, but we do pay appropriate homage to the little mammals that helped us keep our stovepipes squeaky clean.

Whoa. Sorry. I'm not religious myself, so I get these different sects confused. No offense meant.

 

[fossil]

...I get these different sects confused.

They certainly can be subtle, that's fer sure. That's why we just started our own. Rick

 

[Dix]

We keep all of our ashes in urns, one per burning season (and so labeled)...some rather plain, some very ornate...carefully arrayed in an elegantly simple stone mausoleum located at a quiet, secluded spot on our property. Once a year (in the Fall, prior to burning) we hold the Festival of the Ashes, when we burn incense and we eat grilled brats and drink beer in silence, and give thanks to the ashes for the warmth and comfort they brought into our lives, and express our hope that the wood we’re about to burn will bring us the same. Rick

I'll have whatever he's havin'

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Most of the time I fling the ashes around our property, 5 acres and slightly acidic soil, so it is a good fertilizer. But in especially snowy and icy times, I have found that ashes are a great thing to spread on the driveway. We have a gravel driveway, tends to ice up in the thawing/freezing cycles. I believe that the ashes have some sort of chemical property to help melt the ice, been too long since I taught chemistry, so I could just be imagining that. In any event, they add traction and the dark color helps the ice melt. So wherever I have spread the ashes on the driveway it is much safer to walk than where I haven't. Probably wouldn't help as much with a blacktop driveway, and might mess up a concrete one, but would still help with traction, being gritty.

Marcia, you don't have to understand the chemistry of this. Very simply put, dirty snow melts much faster than clean snow. And yes, ashes work to give you traction also, but can be dirty stuff to walk though on the way to the house. Don't matter is blacktop or concrete. Ashes will work the same.

On the acidic soil, the ashes work much the same as lime.

We store our ashes in barrels. Come spring, before working up the garden spots, we then spread the ashes before tilling. Just be sure to spread them because if you just dump a bucket without spreading, not much will grow there that year.

 

[fossil]

We keep all of our ashes in urns, one per burning season (and so labeled)...some rather plain, some very ornate...carefully arrayed in an elegantly simple stone mausoleum located at a quiet, secluded spot on our property. Once a year (in the Fall, prior to burning) we hold the Festival of the Ashes, when we burn incense and we eat grilled brats and drink beer in silence, and give thanks to the ashes for the warmth and comfort they brought into our lives, and express our hope that the wood we’re about to burn will bring us the same. Rick

I'll have whatever he's havin'

Well, that would be George Dickel on the rocks with a Bud chaser...shall I fix you one? :coolsmile: Rick

 

[Dix]

I think I'l pass. Not much for whiskey or beer, thanks :sick: . Got a Mike's or a chablis? :lol:

I usually dump the ashes in the flower beds...a little scattering here, there, wherever. I went heavier on the hydrangeas & rhodedendrons this past winter. I noticed a significant improvment in color & vigor in both plants, when they bloomed this spring.

On another note, it's taken me 20 years of adding compost, leaves, whatever I could to the back gardens to make the soil healthy. Previous owners dumped coal ashes all over the place for years :gulp:

Good thing I have access to alotta manure :coolsmile:

 

[fossil]

...Good thing I have access to alotta manure :coolsmile:

Shoot, for that all you need is to log on to some of the threads here. :lol: Rick

 

[sapratt]

I just dump mine in the garbage can then call the fire dept when the can catches
on fire. That way I get rid of the ashes and the garbage. Just kidding this next winter
will be my first heating with wood.

 

[Dix]

Just kidding this next winter
will be my first heating with wood.

Dump the ashes in the hydrangeas & rhoddies :exclaim:

 

[sapratt]

I have gotten alot of ideas from these posts on where to put the ashes.
From what everyone says the flower garden will be the place to put the ashes.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

For you flower lovers, putting ash around plants that prefer acidic soils (azalea, rose, etc) is a recipe for disaster. Wood ash actually raises soil pH over time depending on application rate, so avoid applying to plants that prefer the lower pHs. Excessive applications over time will also alter the actual consistentency of your soil, making it more silty, or "greasy." Can hurt drainage and increase compaction potential. Even and limited distribution is the key, ideally on grass lawns which will tolerate more variance in pH than many flowers and vegetables.

 

[jabush]

That never crossed my mind. I walk right by a massive hydrangea with my bucket o ashes ashes while I'm looking for a woodchuck hole to throw them down. I think this year I'll give Chuck a break and feed the plants.

Just kidding this next winter
will be my first heating with wood.

Dump the ashes in the hydrangeas & rhoddies :exclaim:

 

[gyrfalcon]

For you flower lovers, putting ash around plants that prefer acidic soils (azalea, rose, etc) is a recipe for disaster. Wood ash actually raises soil pH over time depending on application rate, so avoid applying to plants that prefer the lower pHs. Excessive applications over time will also alter the actual consistentency of your soil, making it more silty, or "greasy." Can hurt drainage and increase compaction potential. Even and limited distribution is the key, ideally on grass lawns which will tolerate more variance in pH than many flowers and vegetables.

Thanks for pointing this out. Rhododendrons, hollies and mountain laurel are other shrubs that require more acidic soil than most.

Lilacs, lavender and clematis are three plants that come to mind that prefer a "sweeter" soil and will appreciate a little wood ash, as do peas in the veg garden. But as you say, they don't want to be drowned in ashes, just a handful or two for the plants and maybe a bucket for a larger shrub.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Azaleas and rhodys definitely prefer acidic soil. Ashes will make the soil more basic, but the change i quick and short lived, so one application likely won't do much long term. Ash also, however, contains potassium- this will enhance blooming. Compost aids in providing nutrient from ash as it acts to hold onto and release the nutrient slowly (look up 'humus'"). Lilacs can bnefit from ash- forboth reasons stated above. If a hydrangea's soil becomes too basic then the flower color supposedly changes from blue to pink/purple.

My acidic soil may benefit a bit from ash- but will be acidic again in short order.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I should add- lime comes in multiple forms as well. Dolomitic, pelletized, burnt... Burnt lime is "quick lime"- very fast release, and good for keeping down the smell if you need to ispose of bodies. Pelltized, etc are usually slower release and good long-term amendments. Or- you can do what I do and pick native plants that like the soil that you have. Blueberries, blackberries, plums, etc- save the quick lime for my enemies.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Azaleas and rhodys definitely prefer acidic soil. Ashes will make the soil more basic, but the change i quick and short lived, so one application likely won't do much long term. Ash also, however, contains potassium- this will enhance blooming. Compost aids in providing nutrient from ash as it acts to hold onto and release the nutrient slowly (look up 'humus'"). Lilacs can bnefit from ash- forboth reasons stated above. If a hydrangea's soil becomes too basic then the flower color supposedly changes from blue to pink/purple.

My acidic soil may benefit a bit from ash- but will be acidic again in short order.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't realized wood ashes had potassium. No wonder my lilacs bloomed themselves silly this spring. The vast majority of plants like the slightly acidic soil that's prevalent in the NE just fine. The ones that require more or less acid do perfectly well, they just do even better if the soil ph gets modified a bit more towards their liking.

 

[billb3]

For some reason my father had a big pile of coal ash near where some old barns used to be that had coal stoves.
A five foot high pile.
Never did get a good reason for leaving it there whan it was rather easy to get rid of.
When he died, I got rid of it. A wheel barrow full at a time.
There wre NO roots in it and this was on the edge of the woods / lawn.
Some chemicals may have leached out of it, but anything good I've left in the woods that soem plant liked ended up full of roots.


Mine goes down woodchuck / animal holes in the Spring, too.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I spread it on the lawn in the spring. I keep it in a metal lidded garbage can just at the bottom of my back steps.

Matt

 

[Redbear86]

came across this post, my aunt uses wood ash in a metal trash can mixed with water to help tan deer/elk hides. Hides submerged in this water will lose their hair in about half a day!

 

[firefighterjake]

came across this post, my aunt uses wood ash in a metal trash can mixed with water to help tan deer/elk hides. Hides submerged in this water will lose their hair in about half a day!

Hmmm . . . new way for those folks not wanting to go through costly electrolysis to remove those unwanted hairs? Maybe I should mention this idea to my wife since I think she finds shaving her legs to be a pain sometimes.

 

[chile verde]

Here in NM the soils are extremely alkaline, so spreading as fertilizer or dumping in compost would be akin to irrigating with Drain-o. Contrary to popular belief it DOES snow here, but at 5000' elevation and 90% sunny days, any unshaded snow melts & ablates long before noon.

I still try to use my ash to the best of its chemical properties, it's just really tough out here!

1. Weed killer. As a herder of chickens about 90% of what most folks call weeds, I call secondary crops, but for nightshade, goatsheads, etc, I spread a small patch of ash across their winter-stunted backs and by Spring they're hurtin.

2. Ant pisser-offer. We've got a local harvester ant (pogonomyrmex) with a particularly nasty bite: nearly impossible to get rid of, and even when successful the neighboring colonies move into the extirpated clan's territory no sooner than the first green blade of grass. I've taken to piling ashes atop all nearby colony entrances and tell myself I'm doing something constructive. I get even more mean come summertime...I'll take a hand auger to a colony, dig down about 2-3 ft and dump a healthy pile of dogpoo into the heart of their nesting chambers. Future tree fertilizer? Who knows. Who cares, it's all about satisfying vengeance!

 

[jrprusak]

I save mine for 2 things:

1. Put it on my icy driveway in the spring for traction, and it will also absorb heat from the sun to speed up melting...

2. Save it in bags for the spring-summer and lightly spread on the lawn with a fertilizer spreader... It helps get rid of moss..

OK, what does everybody do with their ashes? Especially folks in the snowy north, where a couple of feet of snow on the ground make tromping out to the edges of your property to dump (cold, of course) ashes in some obscure spot pretty impossible for most of the winter.

I dumped some around my lilac bushes last winter, but paid a price with a pretty ugly mess, especially once the snow melted.