hampartsum said:Hi Khalid, I was wondering about using my wood ashes also for my roses. Could you give me an estimate of how much to add?. I do have all my roses in the ground so therefore the ashes will be washed during the winter into deeper levels. Our summers are very dry with no rain almost 3 months . So now, (winter) would be a good time to ammend my soil with wood ashes. Our soils are naturally acidic varying from 6.5 to 5.5. My roses are planted towards the higher range but what I sense that reaching ph7 or slightly higher would benefit them. Have you tried adding lime ( construction lime used in masonry)?. I also grow my roses almost purely on an organic basis. I use regularly our sheep barn litter as annual ammendment. I haven't found any negative efects related to salty manure. Our sheep are fed alfalfa pellets and common pasture so I don't see how the manure could become salty. Beyond this I'm very impressed with your gardening and rose pics. Also your respect for Ibrahim. Congrats.! 
Hi hampartsum: Thanks for appreciating my roses. I have used wood ash and gypsum as well as garden lime in my rose beds. All three had different effects for me given below:
Wood Ash: High pH (10.4) so has to be used with care. I would not recommend direct application in bigger quantity. I used it normally when it is raining and a couple of tea spoons (may be three) per bush at one time is enough. I would suggest small dozes multiple times instead of a large doze at one time. Wood as has roughly an NPK of 0-0-7-20 with lot of trace elements. This NPK may vary as wood ash is a natural product and different woods may have a different NPK but it will roughly stay in this range, ie, Ca heavy, enough K and lot of trace elements like Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Bo etc.
Gypsum: Its mainly Ca (Calcium Sulphate) and I would not recommend it for acidic soil as it will make it more acidic and your roses will be more vulnerable to fungal diseases.
Garden Lime: It's good for raising the pH and is relatively safe to use as compared to wood ash due to lower pH (probably 8.5) but it only provides Ca, no K or trace elements.
I would prefer using wood ash but with care and in less quantity at one time. Zn in wood ash helps building natural defence against harmful fungus.
Shravani Ch: That's a wonderful Julia Child bush you have. Thanks for sharing the photos.
best regards
