Thursday, December 22, 2016

Starbucks for My Acid Loving Plants

I've never done this before but I picked up some coffee grounds from Starbucks to amend my alkaline clay soil to try to make it more acidic for my acid loving plants (rhododendron and Japanese andromeda). Now, I know you are probably supposed to compost it first, or at least mix it into the soil, but instead I just spread it around the top everywhere... What could go wrong?

coffee on hand
It was actually a neat texture and was still slightly warm when I opened the bag. I'm not sure why my hand smelled like cigar paper the whole rest of the day, like burt pulp. 

grounds for your garden
It was one of those free "Grounds for your Garden" bags at Starbucks

coffee around rhododendron
Rhododendron 'Ramapo' with coffee around the base

coffee around japanese andromeda
Pieris japonica 'Passion' with coffee grounds

I am a little concerned the coffee will be too acidic for the stem, and in hindsight I should have made a donut around the base. Then again, I SHOULD have worked it into the soil, but the ground is already pretty frozen and it's old out, so why bother, haha! I do think I'll work it in a few inches below the surface before I add new mulch in the Spring.

So far nothing major seems to be happening. All the plants still have their leaves, which is a good sign for December!

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