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Uses for Ashes in the Spring

Through an entire burn season your fireplace or stove has produced buckets and buckets of ashes. If you saved them you might wonder what you could use them for. Whether you’ve added them to compost through the winter or have kept them separate there are many uses for ashes this spring.Uses for Ashes in the Spring - Suffolk NY - Chief Chimney Service

Ashes in Your Garden

Ashes added to your compost can enhance the nutrients therein before adding it to the garden.  Sprinkled directly onto the garden before tilling can help you attain a certain level of acidity and placing a 1/4 cup of ashes directly into the hole when planting tomatoes can mean a healthy plant and plump fruits. Placing them in a flower garden can also enhance the color of some species as well as promote healthy plants.

Ashes for Cleaning

When you are deep into your spring cleaning, you can use ashes as an effective and safe cleaning aid. Ashes mixed with a small amount of water can clean your fireplace or stove glass better than most products on the market. You can use the same mixture for shining your metal handles, as well as chrome on your car!

Ashes as Pest Repellent

As spring rains and warm weather persist, bugs and pests might seek shelter in your home. If you notice the shiny trails of slugs weaving along your floors or walls, you can use ashes to stop them in their tracks. It may be difficult to find the place where they enter, but sprinkling ashes along cracks can prevent slugs and snails. If you’re unable to find the cracks that allow these pests into your house, you can also sprinkle ashes along the foundation and in the crawl spaces beneath your house.

Ashes as Pet Treatment

Ashes can deter fleas, ticks, lice, and mites in your animals, as well as help with general skin irritations. Sprinkling a bucket of ashes into a chicken coop can make dust-bathing even more affective for your poultry. In the same way, pet owners can rub a small amount of ashes through the coat of cats or dogs to curb a flea infestation. This same small bit of ashes in the fur also neutralizes pet odors. Sprinkling ashes at the bottom of the cat litter box also neutralizes odors.

Ashes to Control Pond Algae

It doesn’t take much, but using wood ashes in your pond, large or small, can control the algae growth that can turn your pond an ugly green. Just 1 tbsp per 1,000 gallons can be an affective and free pond water treatment.

No matter how you store or use your wood ashes this spring, make sure they are cool before using them for any purpose and that you wear a mask to cover your mouth and nose when you are shoveling, sprinkling, or moving ashes. You should also make sure to have your fireplace and chimney professionally cleaned so that ashes aren’t left in your fireplace or stove through the summer. Ashes will start to stink once they mingle with summer humidity. You can schedule an appointment with Chief Chimney Services online or by calling 631-863-2460 today.

By John Pilger on April 17th, 2017 | Tagged with: Tags: , , | Comments Off on Uses for Ashes in the Spring