Sea oats are attractive but watch for unwanted spread – Atlanta Journal Constitution

A: What you have is truly granite dust, mixed with a little aluminum oxide. I can see how this byproduct of sand-blasting slabs would be very fine in consistency. The granite dust I was referring to is sometimes called rock dust or stone dust. It is a byproduct of crushing granite into gravel. As you can imagine, in this process, there are a lot of small pieces that are screened from the larger ones. Even though it is called granite dust, the consistency is very gritty. As far as using either material for fertilizer, both contain slow-dissolving potassium and a few other minor nutrients. Chemically speaking, it might take 50 years for your dust to decompose and release its potassium, and it might take a century to release the potassium from my larger particles. Having said all the above, my first boss, Charlie Tucker, taught me an elemental truth: You cant argue with success. If you are pleased with your garden harvest, you can use your granite dust with my blessings.

Listen to Walter Reeves' segments at 6:35 a.m. on Green and Growing with Ashley Frasca Saturday mornings on 95.5 WSB. Visit his website, http://www.walterreeves.com, follow him on Twitter @walterreeves, on Pinterest, or join his Facebook Fan Page at bit.ly/georgiagardener for more garden tips.

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Sea oats are attractive but watch for unwanted spread - Atlanta Journal Constitution