At one time, wood ash was quoted as being good to incorporate in the soil, it was claimed that the potash level would benefit plant growth.
As time has passed, the question has seldom cropped up, for very obvious reasons – the product had almost disappeared from the market.
But they never go away!
This very question was asked of me a couple of weeks ago, and truth to tell, there was a connection with bonfire night, something else that isn’t as prevalent as it once was.
The answer is still the same.
Wood ash is a useful soil improver, when scattered over the surface and cultivated in.
There is a marginal liming effect and if there has been some young growths on the fire – prunings and so on – there is a potash content.
The other useful way of dealing with wood ash is to apply it to the compost heap.
Sprinkle it on from time to time alternating with a spadeful of garden soil. This is as effective in aiding the composting process as buying fancy ‘starter’ materials.
Two final points. Firstly, if there is a significant amount of wood chip present in the product, it will help to improve soil texture.
My advice is confined to ash from untreated wood only!
Pruning newly-planted trees
I popped in to see a chum the other day to find him standing there admiring his new purchase – a Victoria plum tree in a pot.
Being a keen gardener, he already knew about the need for pre-planting compost, the right kind of stake and tie required.
“What about pruning?” he asked.
It is a bush tree with a short stem and a good spread of strong branches growing from the crotch.
It does need pruning, but how and when?
The general advice is to prune stone fruits – plums, cherries, damsons – in the summer because of their susceptibility to bacterial canker and silver leaf disease both of which can enter the tissues through pruning wounds.
Summer wounds on growing stems heal quickly so it is the lesser of two evils because, you’ve guessed it, winter wounds on dormant wood remain raw for too long therefore increasing the risk of infection.
That is the general rule but formative pruning, to create the shape of the tree for the years to come, can be carried out in the dormant season – indeed in many respects it is better done when there is no foliage getting in the way – you can see what you are doing.
Timing is important, and it depends on location.
If my chum’s garden was located at several hundred feet above sea level in a fairly exposed location – Aboyne would be a good example – I would have suggested delaying the pruning until just before bud break.
In fact the house and garden in question are situated with a sheltered, south facing aspect, on the north bank of the Firth of Tay.
Advice: Prune the plant when you have it planted.
How?: The tree in question had four or five 60cm long, strong shoots, pretty bare of side shoots.
Advice: Prune each one back by half it’s length to an outward facing.
I’m sure most of you will realise that such pruning will result in the tree pushing up a new leader to each branch from the new top bud in the spring, whilst buds lower down will be stimulated to grow out as side shoots.
This process has the very important effect of thickening the stem.
In the second winter, do the same again, now you will begin to see more flowers, with the prospect of a juicy harvest to follow.
The corollary of that is trees left to their own devices, in lovely fertile soil will go like the clappers, producing great long lengths of new growth with no intention of settling down to regular flowering, they almost go in to a vegetative state.
Pruning, to create a balance between extension growth and flowering, is the way ahead.
PS
With no pictures to illustrate the foregoing, let me mention one of my all time favourite apples which I am munching through steadily at the moment – Egremont Russet.
The fruit came from one of the original cordons planted by George Barron and myself circa 1979 in the original Beechgrove Garden.
When we moved to Brotherfield in 1995/6, we uprooted these cordons and took them with us.
They lay buried in a sheugh for 12 months before planting in their present position. Most have survived and crop regularly.