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Burek, do you have a council rubbish tip where you live? We have taken dustbins of the stuff to the dump.

baldowrie - what is clinker? we ALSO have masses of coal ash from the house CH system and also need garden paths... I'd been reluctant to put it down as a path - worried about it killing off surrounding plants/trees, but if it was used to make paths 'in the old days' then I am interested.

Love the slug idea

Millymollymandy - no council tip... not even a weekly rubbish collection

clinker is the spoil/rubbish left after the coal has burnt..the solid pieces. Yes the coal ash will kill vegatation it is put on top of only, hence why it was used as a path.

I am doing paths round my veg/fruit gardens

If you use it as a path, does it always stay powdery or does it solidify when it gets wet? I'm just wondering about walking ash all around the garden and into the house on the soles of my shoes.

love the word 'clinker'

Thomzo - we have a big patch of ground at our entrance gate where the coal was left on delivery last autumn and all through the winter it mixed with the soil (witht the help of feet and tyres) and made a horrible coal mud which stuck to everything. If we didn't have a 'no shoes' policy for the house, we would have been VERY busy cleaning it up inside every day! I think, from what others have said, you would need to have plastic or card under it to stop the above problem happening. I imagine that it would compact itself then under foot.

I meant the coal dust on the ground by the way

burek wrote:Millymollymandy - no council tip... not even a weekly rubbish collection

So do you have to burn your rubbish and garden waste that isn't compostable, making even more ash?

That is what our neighbours do but since I work in town on weekdays I take a bag of rubbish down with me every day or two and pop it in the big communcal bins there. If we have a hot day and forget to get rid of he rubbish in the boot of the car then I really regret it!
We live up a pretty steep hill with unsurfaced roads and the municipality will not send lorries up here. Never mind, it saves us a few pounds a month!

I have made a path with coal ash and clinker and it has worked well.
I did not use cardboard or plastic to line it I just put it straight on to the grass. Used a watering can to dampen down as I pour it out of the bucket and as long as it is not too windy it doesn't blow away. Then I tramped it down and it looks pretty good. I think that the the dirt would get walked into the house but I have done it at the very end of the garden and it would be good in an allotment. I will also be able to top up the path as we will always have a supply of ash.

Coal ash is very acidic and can rapidly make the soil unable to grow anything (having once had a house where the previous occupants were too lazy to dispose of the stuff and just pilled it up under a tree close to the back door). After several years of trying to grow stuff there (after removing the pile) and lots of soil improvers, I gave up and moved a little shed there and cultivated where the shed had been.

you can use wood ash instead of washing-up liquid - don't put it in the water like you would with liquid but dip your wash-cloth/sponge/brush into a little wood ash

use it as 'soak' material in a compost toilet

put around broad bean plants to reduce risk of chocolate spot

use instead of cat litter (maybe a bit messy if you only use ash so mix 50/50 with cat litter) as it's great for eliminating smells