I doubt you need wood ash. Most soils in east WA are near neutral to slightly alkaline. Adding wood ash (alkaline) would mess up your soil.

Wildlifeman:

Agree with Jean. Hold the wood ash. Put it near something you want to kill.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

jean001 + jellyman,

will hold ashes.

i'm in a bit of a quandry as to the soil p.h. the 1 thing the old neighbor said - that i believed, was that we had acidic soil. that was due to as a broad definition our local vegetation points to acid to the best of my knowledge. i'm sure i came across a ph map of my county and it was " acidic " as a general statement. wonders of the internet.

i will try and find that ph map and provide a link for you both and anyone else to peruse and help me interpt if its not too much of an imposition. at least it will help me with "melting snow" and maybe catch you both with the "pre-game" gardening activities.

i think the columbia basin and the palouse points more towards an alkaline soil and our primary eastern washington fruit growing area.

jellyman,
am not sure if you were being facetious or regarding only vegetative matter in your statement. as a precaution i went ahead and spread a wheelbarrow full of ashes around my mailbox. i hesitate to use the phrase " my only neighbor in sight", but maybe i'll get the "mailbox prowler". better call the mail lady and warn her to stay in her vehicle in the morn.

i think i better do a simple ph test before i possibly send my trees to the compost pile--if i had 1.

thanks both,
wildlifeman

pH is real easy to test for with just about any kit. I use wood ashes all the time because I burn wood as my primary heat source and the soils here tend to be acid.

Fruit trees aren't like vegetables where you need to be overly concerned with mineral amendments in most soils- they can find most of what they need in decent soils if you aren't a commercial grower trying to push out maximum harvests.

I believe it would be a worthwhile investment to have your soil tested- just the basic acid wash for around $20. You can contact your county cooperative extension for info about this or ask Jellyman to recommend an outfit as he hates C E.

The problem with leaves for mulch is they tend to blow away if you don't shred them, otherwise they're excellent if they're not from a tree in the walnut family or something else with phytotoxic chemicals. Peaches won't grow under walnuts unless you trench out the walnut roots every couple years.

Harvestman:

On the contrary, I love the Cooperative Extension Service, but they don't love me. Some, perhaps many local branches may be quite different from mine. I too, use wood as my only heat source, as 550 gallons of fuel oil lies buried and undisturbed behind my house. Maybe if I keep it long enough I can sell it for $5 a gallon. I also produce a lot of wood ashes, and have occasionally spread them thinly over the garden and around the trees, since my soil is slightly on the acidic side. But their very high alkalinity makes them dangerous to use in large amounts.

For Wildlifeman: Although soils may vary somewhat within the state, most soils in Washington are fine for growing fruit trees without worrying too much about Ph. But if your soil is thin, rocky, or gravelly, mulching around them with any organic material you can find is better than nothing, from both the nutritional and moisture holding perspectives. As Harvestman observes, if you can shred your leaves they will work much better, but even sawdust spread thickly around the surface is fine. Unless buried, undecomposed organic amendments do not remove nitrogen from the soil, and will eventually add some after they break down. Mulch attracts large numbers of earthworms to the soil, and I occasionally take a pitchfork to dig around the trees for the ducks, which love earthworms. The worms breed so fast in good conditions that the ducks could never keep up.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don't use wood ash.

I use cardboard instead of newspapers. Lasts longer and the worms will eat it sooner or later. Put mulch over the top of it to cover it up. This is my method for fruit trees and they've done fine. Mulch is very important. I use woodchips.

Do you have to dig the mulch and work it in the soil to keep it from turning sour, or can you just leave it there? I'm never quite sure what to do after you apply the mulch.

jean001 + jellyman,

i won't imposition you to take a gander at the wash state soil map. it is interactive and has no roads,towns,etc. to use as a landmark to estimate where my property is located.

did re-verify over a huge area locally and soil ph ranges from 6.0-6.8. the only alkaline soil is in a very tiny area in the bottomlands at a sweet 8.0 and above.

as a matter of interest i did check the palouse and columbia basin and the soil is on the sweet side there. most people referring to eastern wash are referring to this area. the weather,soil, vegetation and such is very different from the n.e. it's like another state, radical difference.

thanks ALL for the help !

wildlifeman

jamjam:

You really don't have to do anything after applying mulch. Left alone, it will eventually break down, and earthworms will carry it down to lower levels. Then apply more. You don't have to work it into the soil.

I am unsure what you mean by mulch turning "sour". Very deep mulch, cut off from oxygen from above, can produce anaerobic bacteria that results in a slimy goo, but this is rare and seldom seen around trees mulched even 6 inches thick. If you want to break down mulch faster, you can turn it occasionally with a fork to aerate it.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA