Expert reveals the kitchen waste item that can help you create a green and healthy lawn

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

If you’ve already given your lawn its first cut of the year, you may think it’s seen better days. The winter months can leave our lawns looking underwhelming with yellow and brown patches rather than a lush green carpet.

But before you get out your normal lawn care products, take a look at your kitchen waste. There’s one item in your kitchen compost that will provide the essential nutrients your lawn needs to kickstart its growth after the dormant season.

Turf Technologies explains how coffee doesn’t just revitalize us in the morning; it can boost our lawns, too. However, where we benefit from the caffeine hit, our lawns gain from the minerals, nitrogen and phosphorus that coffee contains.

How do coffee grounds benefit your lawn?

Coffee grounds on wooden spoon — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The coffee grounds work as a fertilizer to add essential nutrients to your lawn, and the real benefit is that they are released slowly, unlike the instant hit we get from caffeine. Turf Technologies says this is the opposite of most synthetic products, while coffee grounds give sustained nutrients for longer, ensuring stronger turf.

The coffee grounds work as a fertilizer to add essential nutrients to your lawn, and the real benefit is that they are released slowly, unlike the instant hit we get from caffeine.

The company also explains that this natural approach is also much kinder on your lawn, as coffee grounds don’t have any adverse effects, “unlike a synthetic fertilizer, where the incorrect application can have disastrous effects like burning the lawn and contaminating the water runoff.”

And apart from the coffee grounds benefiting your lawn, the worms love them, too.

“Earthworms eat the coffee grounds and, in return, aerate your lawn and encourage beneficial microbial activity,” say the experts at Turf Technologies.

Recycling your waste

Coffee grounds sitting in a white container — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

So, whether you own one of the best coffee makers or best espresso machines, save your leftover coffee grounds for your lawn.

“Coffee grounds are an eco-friendly, no-waste lawn product,” adds Turf Technologies.

How to apply coffee grounds to your lawn

Coffee grounds on garden trowel in garden — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The best approach is to scatter them. Turf Technologies suggests, “Simply throw them out there and let them lay where they fall. The worms will work at them to break them up, or they’ll eventually get spread when you mow.”

You can also rake them across your lawn to avoid any clumps.

Another method is to mix the coffee grounds with water when you irrigate your lawn – adding about 500g per 20L of water. Or, if you’re feeling more adventurous, Turf Technologies recommends drilling ¼-inch holes into the bottom of a small bucket, adding the grounds, and walking back and forth across your lawn spreading the natural fertilizer.

The coffee grounds can be applied every month or two to encourage a thick turf.

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Camilla Sharman has worked in publishing and marketing for over 30 years and has covered a wide range of sectors within the business and consumer industries both as a feature, content, and freelance writer.

As a business journalist, Camilla has researched articles for many different sectors from the jewellery industry to finance and tech, charities, and the arts. Whatever she’s covered, she enjoys delving deep and learning the ins and out of different topics, then conveying her research within engaging content that informs the reader. In her spare time, when she’s not in her kitchen experimenting with a new recipe, you’ll find her keeping fit at the gym. In the pool, stretching at a yoga class, or on a spin bike, exercise is her escape time. She also loves the great outdoors and if she’s not pottering about in her garden, she’ll be jumping on her bike for a gentle cycle ride.