How to Add Charcoal to Garden Soil

Stove ashes are benefical to rose bushes.

For thousands of years, charcoal has been a useful tool in improving soil. Charcoal, made from burned organic material, is high in potassium salts and raises the pH level of soil. Charcoal or wood ash is very beneficial to depleted acidic soils with a low pH level. Charcoal is also useful in removing pollutants from the soil and works as an effective soil conditioner. For healthier soil and an abundant crop, try adding charcoal to your soil.

Things You'll Need

• Wood ashes

Instructions

1. Empty the wood stove or fireplace ashes on the garden during the winter. In the spring, til the ashes into the soil, cultivating well.

2. Add charcoal to improve soil porosity. If you have a sizable garden, ask family and friends to save wood ashes for your garden. Many people are happy to recycle what would end up as waste. Provide buckets or containers for the ashes and pick them up on a regular schedule. Broadcast ashes on the soil and til to work into the growing media.

3. Add horticultural charcoal to garden soil to improve pH levels and "sweeten" the soil. Charcoal improves water retention and controls soil odors. At the end of the gardening season, burn off standing corn stalks, grasses and leaves. Simply put the burn pile on top of the garden, burn the organic material and work into the soil in the spring.

4. Avoid ash from the barbecue on the garden. Commercial charcoal, prepared for the barbecue, may contain additives that are toxic to garden soil.

References

• Paghat's Garden: Charcoal For Soil
• University of Colorado: Charcoal is Not a Good Soil Amendment in Colorado
• National Public Radio: Charcoal May Help Improve Soil Quality

Resources

• Buy Activated Charcoal: Natural Fertilizer