Cleaning ash off plants: rinsing with cool water is the best way

It has been a rough week for gardeners and their gardens. Smoky weather has blanketed plants with a gritty coating of ash. Ornamentals, vegetables, patios, decks, garden furniture and greenhouses are all dusty. It is time to clean up.

The worst thing you can do is take a leaf blower and blow the ashes away. It is best to rinse all off with a soothing spray of cool water. Vegetables especially need to be cleaned up. After rinsing harvested vegetables, give them another rinse in the sink before consuming. Crinkly, deep veined greens like kale, spinach, chard and some lettuces should be rinsed further in a solution of 10 percent vinegar and water.

When the fog comes along and forms dew on leaves coated with ash, plants can be under extra stress. Ash combined with water makes lye and this is caustic. This might not be such a dilemma for deciduous plants that are going to lose their leaves soon anyway. But for evergreens like rhododendron, camellias, azaleas, ferns, hardy tropicals and such, leaves could become permanently disfigured. It’s best to rinse off the plants now.

During these waning days of summer, shrubs, trees and perennials in the landscape are under stress not only because of the smoky, hot weather, but also because it has been so dry.

The soil is parched. After rinsing foliage of ash, try giving your garden a nice deep soaking. It will take several attempts. This will alleviate some drought stress and make plants better able to withstand another round of smoke and ash should that happen again in the near future. We still have a good six weeks or so of fire weather.