Biochar Revisited: Rethinking Its Promise for Turf & Landscape Soils

Biochar Revisited: Rethinking Its Promise for Turf & Landscape Soils

From The Turf Zone Podcast by The Turf Zone

April 13, 2026 · 9 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the complexities and benefits of biochar as a soil amendment for turf and landscape soils.

Welcome to The Turf Zone Podcast. This episode features the article “Biochar Revisited: Rethinking Its Promise for Turf & Landscape Soils” written by Anthony Will and read from New England Blade magazine. In recent years, interest in biochar has grown rapidly – but so has the confusion about what it actually is and how it works as a soil amendment. Turf managers searching for guidance may find thousands of articles and research papers, many of which make conflicting claims about soil health, nutrient retention, and carbon storage. What’s really going on? Let’s start at the beginning with some key term definitions. Biochar: What’s Is It? Biochar is produced by heating biomass to a high temperature in an environment with little or no oxygen. This heating process is known as pyrolysis. To understand this fully, it is helpful to define biomass and pyrolysis. Biomass is organic material derived from living or recently living organisms, primarily plants. Common examples include wood chips, walnut shells, crop residues, and manure. There are literally hundreds of different biomass materials that can be converted into biochar. Pyrolysis refers to the process, and the…

People in this episode

Host: The Turf Zone

Topics covered

  • biochar
  • soil amendment
  • turf management
  • pyrolysis
  • biomass

Keywords

  • biochar
  • soil health
  • nutrient retention
  • carbon storage
  • pyrolysis
  • biomass

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New England Blade

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