Weed Control With Coffee Grounds

Don't throw your coffee grounds out. Look no further than inside your own coffee filter for inexpensive weed control that is beneficial to your garden and the environment. When used as a mulch, spent coffee grounds prevent weeds from spreading through your garden and are packed with nutrients for your plants. Save your own coffee grounds or you can ask a local coffee shop to save you theirs. Coffee grounds prevent weeds when used as a mulch around plants and can also be dug into the garden to add nitrogen-rich proteins to your soil.

Used coffee grounds

Garden spade

Disposable containers

Permanent marker

Save your spent coffee grounds each day. Empty the used coffee grounds into a plastic container or jar with a lid, and label the container with a marker. Store the grounds in the refrigerator to keep them from souring until you are ready to use them.

Save up enough grounds to use in your garden. About 4 to 5 cups of spent coffee grounds will prevent weeds around three to four plants. The amount of coffee grounds needed will depend on the size of your flower bed.

Using your garden spade, spread 1 inch of spent coffee grounds over the soil around your plants. It is better to use fewer grounds than too much because they can soak up water, preventing it from entering the soil. Cover the ground evenly with the coffee grounds to prevent light from reaching any weed seeds in the soil.

Continue to add your spent coffee grounds whenever you have saved enough until the entire flower bed is covered. Depending on the size of your flower bed, it will only take about two weeks to cover your garden.

Continue to add coffee grounds to your garden throughout the growing season to keep down weeds.

If you don't use coffee in sufficient quantities to save enough grounds for your garden, obtain them from neighbors, community restaurants or cafes.