Uses for Wood Ash: 14 Crazy Simple Uses for Your Yard

Wood ash is a byproduct of burning wood, and it can be used in the garden as well. Once you’ve collected enough ash from your burn pile, here are some ways to use it around the yard:
1) Add it to soil for better drainage; 2) Soak seeds before sowing; 3) Make live compost with manure or other green waste; 4) Use worm castings instead of peat moss to grow plants like lettuce, pole beans, and tomatoes (don’t forget water); 5) Apply as mulch on flower beds or top-soil gardens when plants need moisture during dry periods.; 6) Let leaves decompose in place atop the soil for increased carbon capture.

Wood ash is a byproduct of burning wood in a stove or fireplace. It’s an excellent way to get rid of yard waste and it can be used for many things. Here are 14 crazy simple uses for your yard. Read more in detail here: how to burn brush in backyard.

Are you wondering what you may do with wood ash after a big fire? After our last burn barrel session to remove wood and yard garbage, I noted how much ash was left behind and wondered if we might just put it back to the earth. Wood ash turns out to have a wide range of applications.

When you’re ready to utilize the wood ash, allow it to cool for a day or two before using it since it may remain hot for a long time.

Then you’ll want to put on gloves and a mask to avoid getting caustic burns from touching the ash or breathing it in. After that, you may utilize the wood ash as you like.

It’s excellent to know that once you burn your yard trash, the ashes may be used for a variety of purposes around the home.

These fantastic uses assume you didn’t burn plastics, glossy paper, or some types of cardboard, which contain toxins and won’t work in these applications.

Contents

Compost

To maintain the compost neutral and prevent it from becoming acidic, add ash to each layer.

The high char content also aids in reducing smells. Although, if you’re doing it correctly, the compost shouldn’t smell too bad.

Fertilizer

Everyone speaks about how wood ash can be used as a fertilizer. The major reason is because ash is alkaline and contains potassium and calcium bicarbonate, both of which are excellent for enriching soil nutrients.

Because it’s an alkaline, you’ll want to be cautious about how much you use in your garden or yard. Over 1,000 square feet, you should only add around 10 pounds of ash (about 2.5 gallons) every year.

Any higher than that and the pH level may become too high for the plants to manage. You may also get your soil tested to ensure that the pH level is correct.

Note

If you have acid-loving plants, don’t add wood ash to them since it will kill them. Acidic soil is ideal for plants like blueberries and azaleas.

Toss with Tomato Plants

Now, I realize this is similar to the last example, but tomato plants prefer potassium, and ash has a greater potassium content, therefore they can withstand ash in the topsoil.

a bath with chicken

It’s a natural insect repellent, so it’s ideal for keeping chickens in your backyard. It may be used with any of your animals. But since my dog sleeps with us, I wouldn’t put anything on her coat.

Soap made with wood ash

With wood ash, you can complete the whole soap-making process. It’s still rather time-consuming, so you’ll want to manufacture soap to make it worthwhile.

Silver and other metals that are free of impurities

Because wood ash is alkaline, it’s excellent for cleaning. From filthy objects to the patina that many metals acquire.

Slugs are repelled.

If you have plants that you don’t want slugs to eat, scatter some wood ash about to keep them away. They dislike wood ash because it is heavy in salt.

Dehumidifier (Natural)

At first glance, wood ash seems to be some kind of magical concoction. But, in reality, it’s the chemical changes that leave salt and minerals behind that cause all of these natural occurrences.

Preservative in food

Wood ash is heavy in salt and minerals, and it may help preserve food. You may cover eggs and cheese with ash and preserve them for a long period, some say up to a year, thanks to the way it treats them. I’m not sure whether I’ll use it, but you may if you want to.

How to Get Rid of Ants

Ants dislike wood ash, so if a new ant bed appears, just add the ash and the ants will move. The only thing I don’t like about it is that you never know where they’ll end up. So it’s possible you’re simply playing whack-a-mole with them.

Right now, the most popular stories are

How to Hang String Lights in a Backyard Without Trees: 7 Methods

Is a Hot Tub Safe to Use on Gravel? (And Why You Should Use It)

Squirrels in the Backyard: What to Feed Them

Mice are repelled.

Mice, like ants, dislike wood ash, so if you have it scattered in locations where you don’t want them, they’ll go.

Driveways should be melted of ice.

It’s an excellent method for melting ice on sidewalks and roads. The salt in the wood ash will quickly dissolve the ice. Simply sprinkle a little amount of it over the ice and let it do its work.

Excellent for ponds

Because wood ash suppresses the development of algae, you may use a tablespoon per 1,000 gallons of water to keep the algae at bay. It’ll be a hit with your aquaponics.

Driveway Degreaser

The alkaline components will also assist break up greasy sections on the driveway or walkways.

Conclusion

What will you do with your wood ashes? We’ve already chosen to use it as a composter, as well as to scatter it throughout our yard and deal with slugs and ant heaps.

The “how to build a fire pit for burning brush” is an article that will teach you how to make a fire pit out of wood ash. The article also includes 14 other uses for wood ash.

wood ash uses
how much wood ash per gallon of water
how to burn branches in garden
can you burn weeds in a fire pit
can you burn grass clippings