Q.We are changing our garden around a bit. This has entailed moving some well established plants and adding horse manure and compos
t. Under some of the plants the soil is grey coloured, quite dry and lifeless. It looks a little like ash but is not. The plants don’t seem to be effected, but we have removed most of the grey soil and replaced it.
Oh boy , that ashy looking substance is actual a healthy fungus that lives in harmony with your plants , most likely it was there due to the poor condition of the soil and was helping the plants roots maintain moisture. Since you have already removed it no worries but be sure to mix a well proportioned amount of compost , manure , topsoil and your old native soil around the plants , you do not want to shock them by giving them too much of a strange environment. In the future that ashy substance under the plant in the soil can stay , that's healthy fungus. If you see any fungus on the top of a plant, leaves , buds etc then that is always a bad unhealthy type of fungus that you need to treat right away. Happy gardening ?
