Ashy Looking Soil . This soil though has never been touched because it was under the lawn. State the characteristics of sandy soil. Garden Soil Looks Like Ash GARNED from garned.blogspot.com Sometimes many females will nest close together. Just beside this part of lawn though, we did have a veg bed, which got watered more than the rest of the lawn. If your soil is very acidic (ph 5.5 or lower), amending with wood ash can raise your soil ph level.