Recycling Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

Put coffee grounds and filters to work improving your garden’s beauty and productivity.

Recycle these morning discards in your compost pile or worm bin. Or occasionally sprinkle the grounds on the soil surface of your indoor and outdoor container and in-ground gardens. In addition, you’ll have fewer slugs since caffeine is reported to repel and even kill slugs.

But moderation is just as important in the garden as it is in your own diet. Coffee grounds contain allelopathic chemicals that can inhibit the growth of certain plants. But once the grounds are fully decomposed there is no need for concern.

And be careful when adding large amounts of coffee grounds. They can temporarily tie up nutrients in the soil. So, play it safe and dig them into the garden in fall with shredded leaves and herbicide-free grass clippings, add them to the compost pile or feed them to your worms.

A bit more information: And don’t worry about coffee or tea making your soil too acidic. Organic matter tends to be slightly acidic, but changing your soil pH is difficult. Always start with a soil test whenever you are concerned about your soil nutrients and pH and want to make changes.