Skip to main content

3 incredible reasons why you should be using coffee grounds in your garden

Don't throw out your coffee grounds. Find out if your garden needs them first

You might have heard that it’s a good idea to use coffee grounds in your garden. It’s often touted as a great organic fertilizer, but some gardeners are still skeptical. Should you actually be using coffee grounds in gardens, or does this advice fall a little flat?

As it turns out, it depends on your soil composition and what plants you’re growing. If you’re unsure about whether this tip is right for you, don’t worry! We’ll walk you through when coffee grounds are perfect for your plants and when your ground is better off without the grounds.

A person holding a seedling and soil in cupped hands

Coffee grounds are a source of nitrogen

If you look at a breakdown of coffee grounds, they are roughly 2% nitrogen. This may not seem like a lot, but this 2% can add up, especially when you consider how much coffee the average person drinks in a month. Adding your used coffee grounds into your compost every day is a great way to create a nitrogen-rich compost for your garden.

As with most organic compounds, the nitrogen spreads throughout your soil or compost when it begins to break down. This makes it more similar to a slow-release fertilizer, adding nitrogen to your garden or compost over an extended period.

However, coffee grounds aren’t the only way to add nitrogen to your garden. Although coffee grounds are convenient for many gardeners and rich in nitrogen, practically any organic matter added to your compost will contribute some nitrogen. If you prefer tea over coffee, then there’s even better news. You can compost your tea bags, which contain roughly 4.4% nitrogen!

A person sprinkling coffee grounds over several seedlings

Coffee grounds add acidity to the soil

While most plants prefer a fairly neutral pH, some plants actually prefer slightly acidic soil. This means soils with a pH just below 7, typically in the 6.5 to 6.9 range, although it depends on the plant. Blueberry bushes and azaleas prefer acidic soil, for example, as do rhododendrons. There are plenty of ways to lower your soil’s pH, but you have to be careful not to lower it too much.

Coffee grounds are acidic, but only mildly so. They can lower the general pH of your soil gradually, and there is very little risk of adding too much acidity to your soil. Mixing coffee grounds directly into the soil around plants that appreciate acidic soil can help those plants flourish, without majorly impacting the other plants in your garden. If you don’t drink a lot of coffee but need to increase the acidity of a large garden, then you can use leaf mold, peat moss, or pine straw.

A plant growing in a tin can and a person carefully scooping coffee grounds into the can

Using coffee grounds reduces food waste

Admittedly, coffee grounds aren’t the largest source of food waste. However, every little bit counts, and it all adds up. If you’re already composting, then your coffee grounds and coffee filters can be composted, which means just a little less is going into the garbage every day. Using coffee grounds in your garden is an easy way to make your home and life slightly more sustainable.

Reducing food waste is good for the environment, but there are other ways to make a larger impact. The vast majority of food waste and pollution comes from large companies, not individuals. The best way to protect the planet is to let companies and legislators know that you care about the environment, either through letters, emails, or phone calls. This can be intimidating sometimes, but it’s much easier with friends or neighbors.

Consider looking for local environmental groups, or form one yourself. You can get together with your community members to write petitions or letters, clean up local streams or parks, start a community garden, and brainstorm new ways to help your community accomplish its environmental goals. Of course, you can all compost your coffee grounds as well.

A close-up of a person's cupped hand, full of coffee grounds with a small plant growing in it

When shouldn’t you use coffee grounds?

There are a few times when using coffee grounds isn’t a good idea, or at least not the best idea. One of those times is if you need an immediate boost of nitrogen in your soil. If your plants have a nitrogen deficiency, then adding coffee grounds isn’t going to help, since your plants will have to wait for the coffee grounds to break down before they can access the nitrogen. Instead, add compost or a nitrogen fertilizer.

The opposite is also true. If your garden has too much nitrogen, then adding coffee grounds certainly will not help. Too much nitrogen can lead to nitrogen burn, which is just as detrimental as a nitrogen deficiency. This is why testing your soil’s nutrient balance is important. The same can be said about pH, as well. If your soil is already too acidic, or if you have plants that are sensitive to acidity, then using coffee grounds in your garden is a bad idea.

Using coffee grounds is just like using any organic matter in your gardening. Coffee grounds add nutrients and change the pH of your soil. Sometimes, it can be very helpful. Other times, they are unnecessary or even potentially harmful, like if you already have too much nitrogen in your soil. If you aren’t sure whether coffee grounds will do your garden any good if applied directly, then you can always add them to your compost.

Editors' Recommendations

Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
Loofah plants are unique and interesting vegetables – here’s how to add them to your garden
How to grow and care for your own loofah plants
A ripe loofah gourd on a vine

Summer vegetable gardens are often filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans, but there are other options for more adventurous gardeners. The loofah plant, sometimes also spelled luffa, is a prime example. Loofahs are tasty, useful, a great conversation starter, and even make wonderful gifts. Want to know more about growing this unusual vegetable? Here’s your simple guide to growing loofahs.
What are loofah plants?
When you hear the word loofah, your first thought is likely the sponges — and you’d be right! Loofahs are a member of the cucumber family native to South and Southeast Asia. When the vegetables are young, they’re edible and have a flavor similar to zucchini. If the vegetables are left to mature and dry, then they can be harvested and turned into sponges.

Loofahs are warm-weather vegetables, and they don't tolerate the cold. Additionally, they are annuals. If you want to keep growing them, you’ll need to plant more each spring.

Read more
Focus on color: The most vibrantly purple plants to add to your garden this season
Want more purple in your garden? Try these gorgeous plants and flowers
A field of lavender flowers

Purple is a popular color when it comes to flowers, and it's easy to see why. With lighter shades that can relax and soothe you, darker shades that add depth, and bright purples that are exciting and cheery, there is a purple flower for any garden. For flower bed layering, purple blooms also provide your garden with bold, yet not-too-overwhelming pops. To find the most beautiful purple plants out there and learn how to care for them, read about our top purple plant picks ahead.

Lavender
We couldn’t write a list of purple plants and not include lavender! Lavender is an incredibly hardy plant that's typically perennial in climate zones 5 through 9. Its delicate purple blooms and calming fragrance are highlights of its appeal, but they aren’t the only ones. Lavender is also an easy plant to take care of. It grows prolifically and is incredibly forgiving with occasional bouts of neglect. It appreciates full sun and well-draining soil for lush expansion across your garden bed. You only need to water it when its soil feels dry—there's not much need to fertilize it, as mixing in compost when you first plant it should be sufficient.

Read more
What is landscape fabric, and why would you need it in your garden?
Everything you need to know about the pros, cons, and uses of landscape fabric
Person planting into landscape fabric

Landscape fabric — it's a tool that gardeners and landscapers either loathe or swear by. While landscape fabric can be limited in some respects, it definitely has uses in a garden, and there are different types of landscape fabric. If you're deciding if it can be helpful for your outdoor space, here's what you need to know about using and installing landscape fabric before you order it online or pick it up from your local nursery.
What is landscape fabric, and what are its benefits?
In its simplest definition, landscape fabric is a physical barrier that prevents weeds from growing. When people use landscape fabric, they're often using it for perennials rather than annuals — annuals need to be replanted each year, so removing the landscape fabric every season can be a hassle. Here are some advantages to consider as you're deciding to use landscape fabric for your garden.

Helps with weed control: It can be helpful for allowing water to pass through but will inhibit competing weeds. It can also keep soil-borne pathogens out of your crops as well.
Keeps soil warm: During the colder months of late winter and early spring, it helps keep soil warm.
Helps with water retention: For particularly thirsty crops, the fabric aids with moisture retention.
Reduces the impact of erosion: During rainy seasons, landscape fabric may be helpful for keeping soil from moving around. Erosion control can especially be important if you have plants sitting on a hill.
Makes it easy to transport gravel: Those who have gravel in their gardens may find it easy to remove gravel later down the road by simply pulling up the fabric underneath instead of scooping up the gravel.

Read more