How to Use Ash to Repel Garden Pests

Gardens are a joy to plant, take care of and enjoy. Unfortunately, garden pests can make gardening a chore. One must try to figure out how to rid their garden of the pesky pest, while preserving the beauty of the garden. One secret weapon that gardeners use is ash. Read on to learn how to use ash to repel garden pests.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Sprinkle wood ash evenly around the perimeter of garden beds to repel snails and slugs. Ash draws moisture out of the snails' and slugs' bodies, dehydrating them until they die from lack of water.

2. Place ash around the base of plants to repel surface-feeding pests.

3. Re-apply ash after each rainfall. The ash loses its ability to repel pests when it gets wet, so ash needs to be re-applied frequently.

Tips & Warnings

• Test the soil occasionally when using ash in the garden. Ash adds alkaline to the soil, so it will reduce soil acidity. Take into consideration what plants need acidic soil, and avoid placing ash near those plants.
• Wear gloves, eye protection and a dust mask when applying ash. Avoid scattering wood ash when it is windy.
• Do not leave lumps or piles of ash in the garden. High concentrations of ash can be dangerous, or even lethal, to plants.
• Do not apply ash near potato plants. Wood ash tends to promote the development of potato scab.
• Avoid putting ash near germinating seeds. The ash adds too many salts to the soil, killing the seedlings.
• Never add ash to areas where nitrogen fertilizers have been used. The combination produces an ammonia gas when put in contact with each other.