Where to Put Your Coffee Grounds
February 12, 2008 by Peggy
Since Jennifer is doing her audit on the great green that is your yard, I thought it would be very co-bloggy of me to add a post about how your plants can reuse a little something you might be throwing away everyday.
Coffee grounds can be even more useful to you after you drink your coffee:
Coffee grounds release nitrogen. Plants crazy love nitrogen.
You don’t even have to compost the grounds first. Just evenly spread used grounds directly over your plants just before watering. You can also till the grounds into the soil if you haven’t planted yet. If you do compost, coffee is an excellent composting agent.
Reusing coffee grounds just might help you end up with the prettiest daisies or most glam tomatoes on the block.
An added bonus of using coffee grounds in your garden is that many cats don’t like anything about coffee, so strays may choose to dig elsewhere. (It’s true: My cat will dip his paws into almost any unattended beverage except for coffee.)
If you aren’t a coffee drinker, but you want to use coffee grounds in your soil, check back soon for a post on how to get some free used coffee grounds. Plus, you’ll find more links with more tips on using coffee grounds in your garden.
Peas and coffee image from flickr.
“Plants crazy love nitrogen” I can’t believe how you talk just like me – it’s so funny. Good post; it is very co-bloggy of you. Plus coffee makes such a mess of garbage cans and from what I hear it’s bad for most disposals so really composting the grounds or fresh tossing them to the dirt is the best way to go.
Thank you!
I don’t drink as much coffee as Michael. I’m a decaf gal, but I do love it this time of year.
OH, FABULOUS! my flowers will love me this spring. But, what does coffee do to doggies who like to sniff and dig around?
Good question Pickel. And thanks for visiting.
Using coffee grounds outside is a fairly common practice. However, caffeine is very bad for dogs. I did work in an animal hospital for a year and I never heard of any dogs coming in sick because of eating coffee fertilizer though. : )
Can you observe your dog to see if he’s interested in it the first time you put it outside? If it eats it, not good! Not worth it.
Also, your vet would be able to give you the best advice, and he/she may even have some dog/coffee stories for you. I’m really not a dog expert, but I do know that caffeine will make a dog sick.
Coffee, especially the discarded grounds quickly gets moldy and then is highly toxic to dogs. I have had 2 dogs get violently ill from coffee grounds that were in my compost. They lose control of the balance and equlilibrium, it causes them to startle easily, nerve disorientation; it and can result in seizures and death.
I’ve heard that putting fresh coffee with my books will protect them. I wanna know how will they be protected… and from what. Does anyone know?
zeke abrams
How often should I put coffee grounds on my plants? I haven’t been able to find that. Thank you so very much!