The cold and wet weather may be setting in but that doesn’t mean it’s time to retreat indoors just yet, as gardens still need regular care in autumn to prepare for the coming winter.
Lawns can often be left looking a bit patchy and brown after the summer, particularly after this year, which the Met Office has declared the UK’s hottest on record. The lack of rainfall coupled with the scorching temperatures means your garden is probably in need of a bit of TLC and October is the ideal time to tend to your grass to help get it back into good shape. According to gardening experts, coffee grounds are the perfect natural ingredient to help revitalise your lawn and get it looking lusciously green again.
Coffee grounds are beneficial in your garden as they are rich in nitrogen, which is essential for healthy plant growth, and they also contain other important nutrients like potassium and phosphorus, which can improve the overall health of your lawn.
Not only are they nutrient-rich, coffee grounds can also improve soil structure and water retention, which will give you stronger turf.
Explaining the benefits of coffee grounds, experts at Turf Technologies said: “Being small/fine and dark brown in colour they’re unnoticeable once spread amongst the grass.
“They’re a slow release fertiliser, the opposite of most synthetic products. This allows your lawn to benefit from the nutrients for a longer period of time, ensuring stronger turf for longer.
“Unlike synthetic fertiliser, where incorrect application can have disastrous effects like burning the lawn or contaminating water via run off, coffee grounds have no such adverse effects.
“Worms like them. Earthworms eat the coffee grounds and in return aerate your lawn and encourage beneficial microbial activity. Coffee grounds are an eco friendly, no-waste lawn product.”
Experts say coffee grounds need to be dry before they are applied to lawns, so if you’re using used grounds then you’ll need to allow them to dry out first. Once they’ve dried, sprinkle the grounds across your grass evenly to avoid clumping and then lightly rake them into the soil to help them integrate. Reapply the coffee grounds every month or two and this will help promote a thick, green turf.
Plus, coffee grounds have the added benefit of preventing weeds spreading across your lawn as they contain natural chemicals that can stunt the growth of some plants, which can lead to weed suppression.
The grounds also create a thin layer on your lawn which acts as a physical barrier, helping to block sunlight to further hinder any weed growth, and this can also help deter garden pests like snails and slugs.
Experts at Oxford Garden Design added: “Here’s one positive of adding fresh grounds and caffeine to the garden. Strategically placed, the caffeine provided by fresh grounds can be used to deter the growth of weeds. This process hinges on the allelopathic properties of caffeine.
“Another useful aspect is that caffeine pushes back several pests. Chief amongst these are slugs and snails. It is worth noting that while these critters avoid coffee, it is not exactly a foolproof method. Slugs don’t exactly like coffee, but they won’t run away from it either.
“Interestingly, coffee grounds also discourage pets from entering the area. Cats, for example, avoid exposure to caffeine. This will keep the garden free of the cat and stop it from becoming a litterbox! Some extra care is needed if your pet is a dog and has a penchant for eating or licking random things. In such a case, avoid caffeine for the dog and consign it to the compost heap.”
