Best and worse disposal idea for fireplace ash

[ruffdog]

I read that ashes tend to make soil alkaline and that is the direction I don't want (per soil testing) so it doesn't go in the garden any more. I have cut many trees on the property and the pine ones rot fairly quickly. When they do, I pack the holes with ashes and it works well.

 

[dragoneggs]

Ash is an excellent soil amendment! Do some research but I would definitely put in your gardens depending on your specific conditions. At least find a place on your property to repurpose it adding leaves and other materials to compost. Learning your soil content and deficiencies can be a bit of a science but it's fun to experiment.

For instance, I use my Sequoia pine needles as mulch under my blueberry plants... they seem to love it. I spread ash from my burn pile under my trees and shrubs. Don't throw it out.

 

[goeduck]

I had been taking it to the transfer station along with the recycles and dumping it in the yard waste bin. Not sure why I started that, but I did. Based on the above messages I think I will just dump it on the property. I only burn clean wood, no treated or painted wood.

 

[dragoneggs]

I had been taking it to the transfer station along with the recycles and dumping it in the yard waste bin. Not sure why I started that, but I did. Based on the above messages I think I will just dump it on the property. I only burn clean wood, no treated or painted wood.

Absolutely! No brainer.

And yes... pressure treated and painted wood shouldn't be burned and used in your soil.

 

[mikester]

Best use I've found for ash is spreading on my steep driveway in the winter to make it easier to drive up.

All the old screws and nails give more traction!

I have a permanent fire pit and dump the ashes there all winter long. Every couple of years I have to dig it out with the backhoe. If you screen the ash it makes a good garden amendment.

 

[Frankenkubota]

No help except, pellet stoves generate very little ash

 

[Ford850]

All my clean ash goes into my gardens (excluding potato plots) and in my yard along wooded areas and under trees (tend to be more acidic areas due to leaves mowed into mulch there). Ash containing metal, nails screws, etc gets dumped down woodchuck holes.
I accumulate it in a 5 gallon metal can and don't spread it for at least a week unless it's going on open lawn area that can't catch on fire.

 

[Tinhack]

I have a few brush pile locations for burning. It just stays where it is and gets washed into the soil. I separate burnable trash from the wet trash (garbage). About every other month, I dump the burn barrel on a nearby cactus patch. (Not visible from the house.) I've been doing that since I moved to the property in 1999. I'd like to use my old oil in a heater but Texas doesn't allow waste-oil burning. I have to haul it off to Autozone. I should probably start pouring the oil over cactus patches. The ash doesn't kill them.

 

[Ken45101]

Use it on the driveway (1500' with 150' elevation gain). Not only does it improve traction but it darkens the snow/ice so that it absorbs the faint heat from the sun and helps to melt the snow/ice.

 

[RSR]

All the old screws and nails give more traction!

I have a permanent fire pit and dump the ashes there all winter long. Every couple of years I have to dig it out with the backhoe. If you screen the ash it makes a good garden amendment.

That's right!!

The only ash I generate is from my wood boiler, so luckily it's nail and debris clean.