Question about leaf ash fertilizer

[IrishAyes]

While I was away 2 weeks a neighbor burned his leaf pile; he offered the ashes to me for my roses, but someone else told me he uses a bit of gasoline to start the fire, which he denies because it's illegal. My question is, if he did start his leaf burn with a little gasoline, would the harmful elements remain in the ashes? Would they be safe to put under my roses? It's easy enough to say don't bother, but I don't want to be Nervous Nellie either. I always have lots of leaves of my own to burn; still there's never more than enough for 20 big rose bushes not to mention all the other stuff like young trees etc. I want to be careful but not ignorant.

[jtuck004]

1. At most I would think you just have a little carbon left, all the volatile stuff

was gone in the fire.

I doubt it would be enough to disturb the roses, especially if mixed with other things, and diluted by snow or rain over the winter.

I would expect the same stuff is floating through the air all around us from vehicle exhaust and other sources.

[roody]

2. Why not use the leaves unburnt?

[IrishAyes]

4. The ones my neighbor offered me were already burnt.

I always burn most of mine because the nutrients are then more bio-available. But I use strawberries for a blanket around most things too, and then some unburned leaves on top of them. When it snows, I bank the snow up over the plants as well.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I wouldn't think that anything toxic would be left

after the leaves were burned. Gasoline is so volatile and most of the toxic elements would have gone up in the smoke. I would use it if I had a use for it.

[IrishAyes]

5. Sounds good to me, but I needed to hear a trusted source second the motion before trying it.

As you might guess, landscaping is a passion with me and I put a lot of store in plants and trees I've worked on for almost 8 years. It would've been far simpler to go with knockout roses - just plant 'em and forget 'em - but I'm stuck on teas, which take a lot more coaxing. Well, and a few climbers, some of which now reach 12-15'. I like the challenge of growing things where they're not supposed to grow. In another 10 years we'll probably be able to grow oranges here.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Well, good luck with the roses.

I don't try to grow anything that needs babying, but that is because I am lazy. I love gardens and flowers and vegetables, but there are things that I just don't grow because of the trouble. It is a sink or swim attitude I have when I plant something new. I have one rose bush, and it cannot be killed.

I don't burn my leaves, I mulch them with the lawn mower, gather them up with the lawn mower, and augment the garden soil with it. Of course, we are not allowed to burn leaves in town, so that isn't an option. But I don't think that I would anyway. It works well for me the way I do it.

[IrishAyes]

7. Different strokes!

I'm probably the laziest person on earth, but my damned ego pushes me into more than I can handle sometimes. All my teas are at least 5-yrs by now, so I don't expect much more attrition. If they ever settle in anywhere, they're generally good to go after that. Still, knockout roses are the best choice for most people.

We should get snow tomorrow; it will be 13 degrees tonight. Glad I finally got the yard put to bed for the winter today. Well, there's one more minor task left but it could wait for spring if necessary. I like to prune now because in the spring I'm too busy for it. Until Brigid came along, I used to take clear contractor bags and slip them over the big clay pots like cozies. But Brigid would never let anything that enticing survive, so this year I stapled long boards to 3' wide strips of green tarp; hope she leaves that alone. Ha ha - who am I kidding? At least the rose beds are fenced off so she can't romp through them or scatter the leaves or dig for moles or all the other ways she has fun. When one of the original maple trees someone planted way too close to the house dropped a huge limb that almost landed on the house, I had to have it cut down; but I had a few feet of stump left to use as a platform for my big school bell. Since she's still nowhere grown, Brigid has started to tear the bark off - it makes wonderful toys - and now she's clawing and chewing around the base like a little beaver.

In the vegetable and fruit department I try to grow things that are too pricey for me in the store, such as bell peppers and tomatoes. So economy drives me to a great extent. Since the price of a 2-lb jar of peanut butter shot up over $11, I've decided to grow the original African giant groundnuts next year. I give about half a teaspoon of PB to each dog with their breakfast, and I have to have some too. So it adds up over the month. If I can grow it myself, so much the better. All organic, too. I want to make rose petal jelly someday.