With the gardening season drawing to a close, it might be time to give your plants a good boost before the weather turns.
Autumn is the ideal time of year to collect compost from garden waste and use kitchen scraps like tea bags, coffee grounds and potato peels to help your plants flourish. However, one gardening expert insists that using soot from a fire can also work wonders – and it means you don’t have to bin it.
Simon Akeroyd is a gardening writer who has penned over 30 gardening guide books. He boasts more than 45,000 followers on his Facebook page and a whopping 753,000 followers on Instagram, where he frequently shares handy tips and tricks for people to try at home.
Recently, he suggested that using ashes left over from a fire can help fruit trees flourish; they are rich in potassium. “If you have a log burning stove or a real fire in your house, don’t forget to recycle the wood ash by spreading them around your fruit trees,” Simon advised.
The gardening guru remarked: “Next time you have a fire, whether it’s a log burner to save on your heating bills or a beautiful real fire, gather up the wood ash the next day because it’s high in potassium – one of the three main plant nutrients.”
Explaining how to utilise the ash, he said to sprinkle it around your plants and “they will thrive”. Simon cautioned: “Don’t add too much though as it can have a high pH making your soil too alkaline!”. “If you are concerned just mix it into your compost where it won’t affect the pH so much.”
The gardening enthusiast writer suggested that you can start collecting fire ashes now and spreading them on your plants, but the best time is during spring “when the plant needs it most,” he said.
Several gardening enthusiasts have confirmed that the trick really works. “It works wonders on my apple trees,” one wrote. “Good for helping to keep slugs and snails off vegetable plants too,” another commented.
One person asked: “Is this why trees that thrive after forest fires do so well? ” “I’m sure it must help with their regeneration,” expert Simon replied. When someone asked if you can use burnt paper or cardboard, Simon responded: “Yes you could use burnt paper or cardboard but I guess you won’t get as much ash.”