Lawn improvements can be carried out at most times of the year, but autumn is typically the best as the soil temperature is still warm enough to stimulate grass growth.
One very important lawn job is to fertilise the grass. While there are many chemical lawn fertilisers on the market, you could be using something in your kitchen to tackle the task instead – coffee grounds.
Adding coffee grounds to your garden is a cheap and eco-friendly way to add nutrients to your soil.
Using them for gardening is not a new discovery, but it isn’t used as much as you would think and many people don’t realise the benefits of adding the waste in your garden particularly when it comes to lawns.
According to the gardening pros at Backyard Boss, evidence shows that coffee grounds are “very effective” at “making your grass greener”.
They said: “Grass loves grinds and it will make your lawn look greener, thicker and stronger.”
Lawn specialists at Turf Technologies agreed saying that the caffeine “does the magic” by “revitalising our lawns” as it contains two minerals – nitrogen and phosphorus.
They explained: “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.”
What’s more, unlike synthetic fertiliser, where incorrect application can have disastrous effects like burning the lawn or contaminating water via runoff, coffee grounds have no such adverse effects.
Plus worms love coffee grounds – earthworms eat them and in return aerate your lawn and encourage beneficial microbial activity.
The experts claimed that the “easiest way” to spread the coffee grounds is to do it when you water your grass.
Mix around half a pound of coffee grounds with five gallons of water and you’ve got an “inexpensive, and easy, lawn fertiliser”.
This way you won’t worry about clumps of coffee grounds scattered all over your lawn and you will make sure it spreads evenly by using a watering can to sprinkle the lawn.
You could also spread the leftover material by hand and then use a rake to evenly distribute the clumps of coffee, but make sure it falls down between the grass and onto the soil itself which will make sure it adds nutrients rather than just sitting on the top.
