Native Plants
![](../_images/smarty_plants.gif)
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
![](../_images/mr_smarty_plants_logo_web_200w.jpg)
rate this answer
![](../_images/star_00.gif)
Thursday - March 07, 2013
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Compost and Mulch, Trees
Title: Disposal of Ashe juniper from Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I am in western Travis County and we have been clearing our land of some of the Ashe Juniper. When there is not a burn ban, we burn them because there are just too many to shred. I was wondering if it would hurt our "soil" if we scattered the ashes over the land. Or any other suggestions of what to do with the ashes?ANSWER:
First of all, we are sure you know how very frequent burn bans have been and are going to be in our continuing drought and heat in Central Texas. And, frankly, it would serve no useful purpose. Wood ash is very alkaline and guess what our soils are - alkaline.
Just to reinforce my point, please read this article from Gardens Alive, answering the very same question. And, near the end of that article, note this comment:
"Oh, and if you live in a naturally alkaline area, like some of our Oklahoma and Texas listeners, you shouldn’t add any ash to your lawn or garden. Instead, try using large amounts to kill problem weeds like kudzu and thistle by raising their soil’s pH to plant-deadly levels—horticultural vinegar in reverse!"
We had never heard of that solution before, and don't know that we would recommend it. But we do feel in all our wind, a great deal of that alkaline ash would promptly blow somewere you did NOT want it. And even if you did use that treatment to kill some noxious weeds, you would then be left with soil that was damaged for a long time to come and would probably have difficulty getting anything more attractive or useful to grow there, including our own native wildflowers.
Perhaps you could reconsider shredding. There seem to be many companies around that have that service. The freshly shredded wood chips would not be suitable for use as mulch or a soil additive until they had been thoroughly composted, but for paths and areas you wanted to shade to avoid weeds coming up, they would work very well.
More Trees Questions
Trees blooming white in Austin area
March 16, 2010 - 3/16/10 What are the trees that are blooming white in the Austin area. They are a full tree and very prolific in the area.
view the full question and answer
Sophora seeds to give away
April 13, 2016 - When we moved to TX years ago we bought a mountain laurel so we could have the beautiful purple flowers and were disappointed when the flowers every year were white (with a few purple ones here and th...
view the full question and answer
Pruning Trees in Austin, TX
April 05, 2013 - I have lots of green growth sprouting on the trunks of mature trees. Should I trim them off?
view the full question and answer
Elimination of live oak adventitious sprouts in San Angelo TX
July 28, 2009 - Live oak sprouts. The main tree was removed several years ago and we still have the sprouts coming up in the yard. How do we stop this?
view the full question and answer
Problems with Texas Ash and non-native Bradford Pear in Hutto TX
January 27, 2011 - We have planted two trees in our back yard. The first one(a Bradford Pear) died and the second one (a Texas ash) doesn't look like it's doing very well. Our back yard is mostly black clay about 1 f...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |