Coffee grounds fertilizer

Acidic coffee grounds make an excellent soil conditioner or mulch for acid-loving plants such as conifers, azaleas and rhododendrons. You can often have as much of the used grounds as you need, free from your local cafe.

Method:

1. Apply an 8cm thick mulch of coffee grounds around the base of acid-loving plants, leaving a 15cm ring of bare soil around the trunk of the plant to discourage fungal collar-rot diseases and trunk-eating insects.
2. For a complete fertilizer, mix 4 parts coffee grounds with 1 part composted wood ashes, and work into soil in autumn.