"Loosecanon" wrote in message
...

"Claude" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know whether or not coffee grounds are dangerous for the
health of plants or lawn? I heard once that they are sometimes used
when
turf is laid, but at my place there is a suggestion that some plants are
in declining health because I emptied the contents of the plunger on
them!


From memory coffee is acidic which will make the soil sour. So the ground
will be good for azaleas, gardenias and camellias because they like acid
soils. Not so good for things that like neutral pH to slightly alkaline
conditions. I would suggest a handful of lime, dolomite or rockdust to
even
the ledger as all are alkaline.

Cheers

Dick

the balance of consensus I have read acorss various web pages is that coffee
grounds may have a fairly weak acidic reaction on soil. Much of the acid in
grounds is apparently washed out through the brewing process. I simple (and
a little arbitary) test would be to measure the ph of the grounds using a
standard take home kit and see what that yeilds. If it shows a result test
various batches of coffee grounds to see what the general norm is. If midly
acidic factor that in to any liming regime. Another factor to consider is
the soils natural ability to buffer acidic material.

For example, here in NZ we havea good supply of rain. Every few years it is
recommended to lime the lawn. PH checks across the garden will give me a
rough indication of the soil ph and how to bring it in to decent level
(close enough is good enough type measure mind you). I might need to lime a
year earlier due to using coffee grounds. I have not experienced anything
dramatic in my usage of coffee grounds. Trial and observation most likely.

rob