Gardeners can stop buying expensive plant food and instead use a common kitchen scrap: used coffee grounds. These grounds, often discarded without thought, provide plants with nutrients, helping them to bloom for longer and thrive, particularly on plants like tomatoes and hydrangeas. Roses can also benefit from being fed coffee grounds.
Nutrient-Rich Kitchen Scraps
According to the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society), kitchen scraps contain a number of nutrients that can help plants thrive. As well as this, it costs next to nothing, and you won’t need to buy expensive fertilisers.
RHS Horticultural Advisor Andy Vernon said: “Spent coffee grounds contain a mix of organic compounds, including many of the ones that make up plants. They also contain nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. All of this makes them useful for soil enrichment. Their effect on pH is very minor and temporary.”
Real Garden Success
In addition to adding grounds to a compost heap, they can be beneficial for plants. Andy said: “With a very sparkling amount, I raked them [coffee grounds] carefully around the base of any acid-loving plants, and this gentle approach seems to have worked well in my garden. My azaleas were incredible last year, and even a very stubborn and temperamental creamy white camellia in a large pot flowered well after this approach.”
Pest Deterrent and More
According to Gardeners’ World, using coffee grounds can also deter slugs, which are said to dislike the gritty texture and caffeine content. They can also help to repel ants, cats and foxes, but frequent application is needed if it rains.
While it’s not recommended to apply thick layers of coffee grounds, it can be a useful way to use up kitchen scraps.
Eggshells as an Alternative
Another kitchen scrap that can benefit the garden is eggshells. Not only do crushed eggshells deter pests like slugs, but they also contain high levels of calcium. This makes them suitable for plants such as brassicas, but they are best avoided for acid-loving plants like rhododendrons. Potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, courgettes, marrows and squash also love eggshells, and they can be added to the soil, placed at the bottom of a pot, or sprinkled around the base.
