• Home
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • Prep-Ahead Meals Cookbooks
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Gardening
  • Kid’s Activities
  • Gluten-Free Recipes
  • Budgeting Tips
↑

Premeditated Leftovers™

Prep-Ahead Meals, Cooking Tips, and Frugal Living

  • Cookbooks
    • Prep-Ahead Breakfasts and Lunches
    • Prep-Ahead Meals From Scratch
  • Recipe Index
  • Members Area
    • Member Login
    • Join Us
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Gluten-Free Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • Garden
  • DIY
  • Kids
  • Budget

You are here: Home / Gardening / 5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden

5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden

January 2, 2022 by Katie Femia

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
44207 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

If you have a garden, you can use one of these ways to use coffee grounds in your garden instead of throwing them away.

Don't toss your coffe grounds in the trash. Instead choose one of the five ways to use coffee grounds in the garden.

When you are done brewing a pot of coffee, do you typically toss those used coffee grounds in the trash? Well next time, don’t. Coffee grounds can actually be one of your best friends in the garden and can help you grow plants that are healthy and strong. Let coffee grounds make your job easier, take a peek below at 5 ways to use coffee grounds in your garden. You may be surprised at how versatile this item is!

5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

1. Make a worm farm.

Why on earth would you want a worm farm? Worms will turn and aerate your soil for you, making less work for you. In a bucket, add some soil, your coffee grounds, and a few worms. The worms will love it. Then, just add the mixture around your plants and the worms will do the rest. Here are tips for starting a worm garden.

2. Pump up your compost.

Coffee grounds are chock full of nitrogen. This nitrogen is what your compost bin needs to be at its best. When you are done with the coffee grounds, simply pour them in and give the compost a good stir. Here are more composting tips.

3. Make pests take a hike.

You can sprinkle coffee grounds around the perimeter of your garden and flower beds so pets won’t want to cross it. Slugs, snails, and other bugs won’t want to climb over the acidic mixture and instead will head over to the neighbors’ house! To further reduce pests, here are ways to attract beneficial insects.

4. Make your own fertilizer with old coffee grounds.

You can add ½ cup of coffee grounds per 1 gallon of water. Mix well. Allow the mixture to sit for about 24 hours and “brew.” You can then pour it directly onto the base of your plants. They will love sipping on this homemade fertilizer and it won’t pose any harm to children or plants playing in the yard. Here are more organic fertilizers.

5. Fight off fungus.

Coffee grounds can help fight off various types of fungus that can grow on your plants. To enlist their help, all you need to do is sprinkle the grounds directly into your soil. As the grounds break down in the soil, they will help fight various molds and fungus colonies that could be at war against your plants.

Coffee gives you a pick me up each day, now let it pick up your plants! Try some coffee grounds in your garden today and see what results you can come up with.

5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in Your Garden

More Gardening Hacks

  • 5 Ways to Use Beer in your Garden
  • How to Use Egg Shells in your Garden
  • 5 Ways to Use Citrus Peels in your Garden
  • 5 Ways to Use Marigolds in your Home and Garden

More Frugal Gardening Tips

  • Frugal Gardening Tips: How to Start a Garden on a Budget
  • Ways to Save Money at Greenhouses and Gardening Centers
  • How to Save Money by Growing Perennials
  • How to Garden for {Nearly} Free
44207 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Comments

  1. Diane says

    January 29, 2020 at 9:58 am

    What wonderful ideas. I have been using crushed egg shells & coffee grounds from K-cups all year in the fenced in garden.. Thank you for these great ideas for the up coming plant season!😃

  2. virginia mceachern says

    September 21, 2019 at 12:10 pm

    what are some ideas for coffee grounds and egg shells at the end of the garden season?

  3. steve says

    June 1, 2017 at 11:16 am

    I had bad black mould and scale on my gardenias, whenever I make a plunger pot of coffee I top the pot up with water and water the gardenias with this. The black mould and the scale are no longer a problem. I think due to the mix repelling the ants that farm the scale insects.

  4. Gina Plain says

    July 3, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    Does it make any difference if the coffee is decaf?

  5. Kay says

    April 12, 2016 at 12:48 pm

    Our worms are dancing to the tune of “Hello Darling” by Conway Twitty. Their favorite meal is coffee with compost and fresh garden greens.

  6. Carol says

    February 3, 2016 at 3:41 am

    Great ideas I can’t wait to start my gardening.

  7. marilyn says

    May 19, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    Marvelous hints thankyou. hope neighbours will be happy with extra pets.

  8. Barbara Koepke says

    May 10, 2015 at 9:03 pm

    Want to learn all I can. Thank you

  9. Colette Steinorth says

    May 9, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    Put used coffee grounds in a mole, vole or gopher hole. Water it to make mushy mess cover with dirt. They do not like it and if you keep it up critters will go somewhere else

  10. Bev says

    May 9, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    I love thithese ideas to use coffee grounds for my plants!! How do I email this to friends?????

  11. Danielle says

    May 9, 2015 at 9:13 am

    Local coffee shops are better sources for coffee grounds than chains, in my experience. Most chains are not allowed to hive away waste products of any type, even if it’s not for human consumption.

    Also,I’ve been vermicomposting for seven years. Composting worms (red wrigglers) should never be added to your garden. If you’re using garden worms, great! But composting worms are not part of your native ecosystems and should stay in the vermicomposting bin. But they do love coffee. Mine go through it like crazy!!

  12. Linda says

    May 9, 2015 at 9:05 am

    I use coffee grounds for my azaleas and rhododendrons. They like the acidity soil. Will also keep critters away.

  13. Jeri says

    March 12, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    I like this knowledge. Is it possible to have too much coffee grounds?

  14. ken crowne says

    January 7, 2015 at 10:01 am

    Hi Katie,

    Gardeners should be aware that their local starbucks and mc donalds are great places to stop by and meet the manager, and place a special garbage can just for grounds. If you have a large production garden, this is an awesome way to add and amend to your stuff. I have gotten well over 100 lbs free of charge, and my soil, worms, and compost LOVE it.

    Thanks for ”grounding” us with good solid information. It was a real pick-me-up. !!!!

Search

Prep-Ahead Breakfasts and Lunches by Alea Milham

Recent Articles:

How to Start Your First Garden

2 ways to start composting easily

3 Ways to Start Composting

How to attract wild birds to your yard.

Tips for Attracting Winter Birds

Prep-Ahead Meals from Scratch Where to Buy

BROWSE:

  • Blog
  • Cookbooks
  • Recipe Index
  • Members Area

ABOUT:

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure

Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

Copyright ©2025, Premeditated Leftovers™. All Rights Reserved.
Design by Pixel Me Designs