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Keen gardeners and coffee aficionados everywhere take note coffee grounds are good for the garden.

Gardeners who compost are always on the look out for materials to feed the heap. Coffee grounds are a nitrogen-rich material with a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20:1. When you know that the ideal carbon to nitrogen ratio of a compost heap is in the region of 30:1 then its easy to see that adding coffee grounds to the compost heap will add enough nitrogen to offset a carbon overload (commonly a problem when it's time to prune shrubs or clear up the garden at the end of the season). Adding a dose of nitrogen can kick-start the compost process and heat up your heap, leaving you with better compost quicker.

Worm composters are also grateful for coffee grounds, as their worms will happily chow down on them to produce nitrogen-rich worm compost and liquid feeds. However, coffee grounds are acidic and in a worm bin they need to be balanced out with alkaline materials such as lime or crushed eggshells to maintain the right environment for the worms.

A large percentage of the garbage thrown out by the average household is organic material that could be composted. Added to landfill, this organic material breaks down without air and produces methane (a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change) and liquids that can combine with other trash and cause toxic leakage. People who compost may only be doing it because they want to turn trash into garden gold, but by doing so they're also saving the planet!

Coffee drinkers who don't have a compost heap can still make their contribution by sprinkling their coffee grounds directly onto the soil in the garden. Used in this way, the nitrogen in the coffee grounds is slowly released into the soil and taken up by the plants as and when they need fertilizer.

There are some added bonuses too. Firstly, if you're a big coffee fan then you will appreciate stepping out onto the patio in the morning and smelling the coffee! The smell wears off after a couple of days, but if you're constantly replenishing the coffee grounds then that just brewed' aroma will permanently surround you.

Additionally, there's some evidence that using coffee grounds in the garden can deter pests. Some people think that it protects plants from slugs and snails and it's also worth experimenting to see whether your local ants dislike coffee grounds. Cats find their toilet areas by smell, and in my garden I have successfully used coffee grounds to persuade them to go' elsewhere.

If that hasn't persuaded you, then how about free liquid fertilizer? Half a pound of coffee grounds, allowed to steep in 5 gallons of water at room temperature, makes a nitrogen-rich liquid feed that can be used anywhere the garden needs a quick boost or even on your houseplants.

So have another cup of coffee - you're saving the planet!

Learn more about this author, Emma Cooper.
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