Coffee time for greens

Spent coffee grounds are an ecofriendly way to a healthy, weed-free yard. What's more, you can get them free at Starbucks

The beans that yield stimulating cups of coffee can also perk up the plants in your garden.

Spent coffee grounds are a good source of organic matter and recycling them in the garden is an ecofriendly way to supply nutrients to your plants.

The good news is that you can now collect used coffee grounds from Starbucks stores throughout the year for your garden.

Committed towards creating a healthier environment by reducing waste, Starbucks is offering complimentary bags of spent coffee grounds to customers for use in gardens and compost piles.

Plant nourishment

When used in moderation, coffee grounds can provide a valuable source of nourishment to the plants.

You can brew them further in a compost pile to prepare an enriching treat for the garden soil or simply sprinkle them on the ground around acid-loving plants.

You can also use the spent coffee grounds as light mulch around fast-growing annuals and perennials.

This practice will discourage weeds and repel fungi, maggots, snails, slugs and other plant pests.

But avoid …

However, heavy mulching should be avoided, as tightly packed grounds will decrease the soil aeration.

Also, avoid applying used coffee grounds to beds containing new seedlings or tiny transplanted plants, as this can damage their delicate tissue.

Even though roasted coffee is fairly acidic, most of this acidity is removed during the brewing process, leaving the coffee grounds with a slight residual acidity.

Brewed coffee grounds are no more acidic than peat moss and you can apply them directly to the soil around acid-loving plants, such as azaleas, hibiscus, allamanda, ixora, roses, hydrangeas, poinsettias and gardenias, which will respond by producing larger and healthier blooms.

In fact, coffee grounds are said to enhance the blue colour of the hydrangea blooms.

There is no doubt that flowers love coffee, too — especially when it is turned into rich compost. Composting is an excellent method for recycling the grounds.

Spent coffee grounds are a wonderful addition to a compost bin — they heat up the pile and accelerate the decomposition process, producing rich, black compost in a matter of weeks.

Good to smell

Unlike most other organic materials coffee grounds smell good, too. However, make sure that the amount of grounds you add to the compost bin is not more than 25 per cent of the total volume of your compost pile.

For plants that cannot tolerate even mild acidity, composting the spent grounds with brown materials such as dried leaves, wood shavings, straw, shredded bark, grass clippings, brown leaves or a little lime will counteract any residual acidity.

The resulting compost will have a balanced pH to make it suitable for most plants in the garden.

The ratio

Coffee grounds have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20:1 and like leafy green material they also increase the nitrogen content of the compost.

They also contain low levels of potassium, phosphorous, calcium and magnesium.

However, always remember that compost is just a supplement and not a complete fertiliser.

Keep turning the heap frequently, as that will speed up the composting process by improving aeration in the soil.

It is also important to sprinkle water regularly to keep the contents of the bin moist without making it very soggy.

Optimum moisture is essential to encourage bacterial and fungal activity for efficient composting.

A soil rich in compost is the starting point for healthy and strong plants.

Compost is essentially a soil conditioner that works wonders for the water-holding capacity and aeration of the soil.

Compost also improves soil fertility by providing essential trace elements to the soil.

Now that Starbucks is distributing complimentary bags of used coffee grounds for your compost bins, recycling them makes a lot of sense.

Rather than sending this valuable organic matter to an already overloaded landfill, the brewed coffee beans can be used in your garden as an invigorating treat for your plants.

Chandana Roy is a UAE-based gardening enthusiast