Ash from coal fires

I have a coal fire in the house but burn logs as well (about half and half). The people on my allotment say that the ash is far too acid to use on the soil but my son has told me he uses the ash from his coal and log fire, and has done so for a long time, and his soil has never been so good. He, also, says that he has no prolem with growing anything he wants to grow.

Is he just lucky or is the ash okay to use?

 

Hi Quaedor,

you have it from the horse`s mouth, I would listen to your son and use the ash.

 

Hi Quaedor, I agree with your son, it also keeps the slugs away.:gnthb:

 

I would pour my ash around my Azalea bushes as a side dressing in the winter and even on top of the snow around them if the snow was there. They always do very well.

 

I had coal fires in the UK for 23 years and wood fires here since 2001 ... both ashes are ace on the garden ...

Sorry guys, I'm not in the modern world and haven't had central heating ... I'm not cold and never have been .... :gnthb:

 

Thanks all! I'm glad I asked. I've just realised that, when I get lazy in winter, I pour the ash on my back garden (can't be bothered to go to the bin!) and I've never noticed any problems with the spring plants!

 

Frank Fraser Darling a noted botanist created a very productive garden in the 1930s on the island of Tanera Mor in the Summer Isles on what had been totally unproductive soil, by using boiler ash (from the herring processing factory) and coral sand and seaweed from the beach.

 

How very lovely dave w:yho:

 

If I were you, I would use it too. However, if you store the ash for about 3 months I'm told it will lose most of it's acidity.
I dont have an open fire ( more's the pity ) but a work colleague has a wood burner, and he saves the ash for me.
I use it mainly around the edge of the beds to deter slugs, a practise my grandad employed for many years.