Save Those Coffee Grounds!

Used Coffee grounds are very helpful as fertilizer and as an insect repellant for indoor house plants as well as outdoor plants and lawns. Many places, such as drive through coffee stands and restaurants, are more than willing to give you their used grounds, FREE!

The grounds are an excellent source of compost and being "green" (organic) material, contain Nitrogen and other essential nutrients, they provide much needed food for all plants. Providing a great recycling use of a by-product of coffee drinking, not only satisfies and feeds grass and plants organically, but keeps just one more item out of our land fills. You will usually see results after only three days!

As a lawn fertilizer: Wearing gloves, hand spread the free gathered used coffee/tea grounds all over the grass, especially the "dead" places, like you might when using a granulated fertilizer, but as evenly as possible and about twice as much than with a granulated fertilizer. Do this just before an expected rain, because nothing good happens until the grounds are watered in, and because it is another free resource.


You can also fill in cracks left by the dryness by looking for any road/swim pool/fence construction and ask for any left over top soil. Sand is another option for cracks and low areas. Add a top dressing of these materials over the coffee grounds.

You can even use the heavier used filter paper, other than in the compost: stuff them into the cracks in the lawn and around your foundation. The residual grounds will repel pests as well, and since most used grounds have a significant number of used filters to dig out, it helps to close the gaps. Caffeine is a natural insect repellant and works quite well to repel many crawling insects such as ants.

The secret is to find the proper balance for whatever you apply it to. For an area of approximately 40'x90' feet, it takes about 15 gallons of grounds. Apply a little more around the drip line of evergreen trees/shrubs, NONE around fall leaf-losers. Do that in the spring. For a 20 inch pot, mix into the soil one to one and a half hand full of coffee grounds. Remember to decrease the amount of coffee grounds when applying to smaller potted plants. I usually will use one teaspoon in a six inch pot.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...