Two black plant pots with young green seedlings growing in soil, situated on bare dirt in a garden with other plants in the background.

Biochar

Nature's secret to healthier gardens and a healthier planet

Imagine a soil improver that makes your plants thrive, helps the planet breathe easier, and turns waste into treasure. That's biochar – and it could transform your garden. 

Burning to save the planet? Here’s how it works.

Two people are making smoke in a backyard with trees, a shed, and a grassy area.

It sounds counterintuitive – burning things to fight climate change – but the science is fascinating. Carbon on our planet is in a perpetual cycle. Most life on Earth is carbon-based, and it's our human activities that have pushed too much of that carbon into the atmosphere as gas, causing climate change.

Here's the clever bit: when waste biomass like hedge clippings are left to rot, they release most of their carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane. But if those same clippings are transformed into biochar through pyrolysis (burning without oxygen), they become pure, stable carbon. Put this charcoal into the soil, and it doesn't rot – effectively locking that carbon out of the cycle for several thousand years.

When done correctly with no oxygen, the process produces low emissions, and the stable carbon created vastly outweighs any negative effects. In fact, if enough biomass was turned into biochar correctly instead of being left to rot, we could actually reverse global warming! (Don't worry, we won't take it that far.)

What makes biochar special?

Once created, biochar is enriched with beneficial microbes and nutrients. Think of it as a luxury apartment block for soil life – its incredibly porous structure (one gram has around 400 square metres of surface area!) provides a safe home for the fungi and bacteria that keep your soil healthy and your plants happy.

Transform your garden

Wooden compost bin with charcoal on the left side and wood scraps on the right side in a rustic shed.

Add biochar to your beds and you'll notice the difference. It acts like a sponge, holding onto water during dry spells whilst improving drainage in heavy soils. It locks nutrients in place so they're available exactly when your plants need them, rather than washing away with the rain. The result? Healthier plants, better harvests, and reduced need for fertilisers.

Your soil's ecosystem will flourish too. The biochar creates ideal conditions for beneficial microbes and fungi to multiply, building the kind of rich, living soil that grows truly nutritious food. Better soil means more nutrient-dense vegetables on your plate – good for your health and your family's wellbeing.

Good for gardens, better for the planet

Five large paper bags labeled "Furnace Charcoal" and one small bag filled with black charcoal pieces, placed on a gravel surface outdoors.

Here's the remarkable part: for every kilogram of biochar you add to your soil, three kilograms of CO2 are removed from the atmosphere and locked away for thousands of years. You're not just growing food – you're helping to rebalance our climate.

At Furnace Brook, biochar is produced using only sustainably sourced wood from local trees, coppicing, and on-site materials. No trees are cut down specifically for biochar production. Instead, we're turning what would be waste – prunings, branches, and sustainably harvested wood – into something that enriches our land for generations to come.

Mix biochar into your soil at up to 10% by volume, and you can repeat this annually. It's a simple action with cascading benefits for your garden, your health, and our shared future.

You can purchase some at Furnace Brook and see how you can transform the life in your garden. Just complete the enquiry form on our Contact Us page.