Coffee grounds have many uses in the garden. As well as helping to turbocharge the compost pile (see yesterday's tip), they also can improve soil drainage and water-holding capacity. What's more, they're free. Here are some ways to use them in the garden.
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Scatter the grounds over plants' drip line before irrigating, or just before a rain, to let nutrients leach gently into the root zone.
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Add as much as 25 percent coffee grounds to the menu for your worm box.
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If you don't have a worm box, here's a technique used by Homes & Gardens columnist Vern Nelson: He tosses a mix of kitchen waste into his food processor with about 25 percent grounds, adds some water and whirs it into a slurry that makes a good fertilizer. It works well for houseplants and container plants, especially potted citrus trees. Pour the slurry over a plant's drip line and scratch it in. If the weather is very hot or windy, you could spread a mulch over the slurry to prevent it from drying out too fast.
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Dump a half-pound coffee can's worth of grounds into a 5-gallon bucket of water and let the brew sit overnight. Apply this liquid fertilizer early in the morning while the air is cool and before drying winds come up.
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When repotting plants, replace about 10 percent of the soil with fresh grounds. Mix the grounds thoroughly with fresh potting soil before adding it all to the pot.
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To improve heavy garden soil, add 2 inches of grounds to compost, rotted manure, leaf mold or whatever your favorite amendments are. Dig in the amendments 8 to 10 inches deep.
Where to get coffee grounds:
If you're not making enough coffee at home, Starbucks coffee shops give the grounds away for free.
-- Homes & Gardens staff
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