Modern rose varieties aren’t nearly as picky as their historical reputation might suggest, but they still demand specific care tailored to their soil and sunlight preferences.
Furthermore, if you reside in an area with less-than-ideal conditions, you might think you have to abandon your dream of having your own rose garden. Thankfully, that’s not the case.
Coffee grounds can be incorporated into your garden, enriching the soil and deterring pests, resulting in vibrant roses.
Used coffee grounds aren’t just a clumpy mess to clean up every morning. They’ve long been recommended as an addition to your compost pile, and they can offer similar enriching properties to the soil around your rose bushes.
Moreover, they serve as an effective pest repellent, deterring snails, slugs, and foraging animals like rabbits. Coffee grounds truly benefit rose gardens in multiple ways.
Nourishing the soil with coffee grounds
Coffee grounds are acidic, and roses thrive best in acidic soil, but their benefits don’t stop there. Coffee grounds are also rich in nitrogen, a vital component of fertilizer.
They provide a natural means of enriching and fertilizing your garden.
While not serving as direct plant food, coffee grounds promote earthworm activity, further enriching the soil around your roses.
Mix them with bark mulch and spread the mixture over the soil, or incorporate them into your beds for improved aeration and acidity, ensuring a depth of 7 or 8 inches and avoiding direct contact with the rose bushes to prevent burn spots.
Another method of nourishing your roses and soil with coffee grounds is by adding them to water. To clarify, this doesn’t involve pouring leftover coffee onto your roses, as it’s much more acidic than the used grounds themselves.
Instead, mix 1 cup of used coffee grounds with 1 gallon of water, then spray your roses with this mixture once a month or so. This evenly distributes the nutrients and allows them to reach the roots.
Using coffee grounds as pest repellent
No one enjoys having slugs or snails devouring their garden plants, especially roses, which are particularly vulnerable to these pests. Fortunately, coffee grounds can keep them at bay.
Coffee is a diuretic due to its high caffeine content, which means it dehydrates you. This property extends to slugs and snails, eventually killing them if ingested.
Additionally, the acidic nature and rough texture of coffee grounds are unpleasant to these pests, potentially causing them harm. There are multiple reasons why snails and slugs will steer clear of your coffee-enriched soil.