Clever Ways to Use Coffee Grounds
Photography Sarah Tuck.
Coffee isn’t just the perfect morning pick-me-up, it’s a handy helper in the garden and around the house too. Below, find a few quick tips to make the most of your used grounds.
In the Garden
- Compost booster: Coffee grounds speed up decomposition! Balance them out with leaves or newspaper.
- Soil enhancer: Sprinkle a thin layer around acid-loving plants like hydrangeas, azaleas, and blueberries.
- Mulch magic: Mix grounds with wood chips or sawdust to lock in moisture and keep weeds away.
- Pest repellent: Scatter grounds around the garden to help keep stray cats, slugs, and other unwanted nibblers away.
- Worm food: Worms love coffee! Add grounds to your worm farm.
Around the House
- Odour buster: Pop a bowl of dry grounds in the fridge, freezer, or bin to soak up smells.
- Kitchen cleaning: Combine grounds with dish soap for a natural scrub that works wonders on greasy pans.
- Fireplace helper: Sprinkle damp grounds over ashes before sweeping to reduce dust.
And when you’ve finished sprinkling grounds in the garden, don’t forget the sweet stuff — explore our International Coffee Day collection here.
latest issue:
127
In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.