This summer, when your petunias need perking up or your begonias look as if they could use a boost, get them something from the nearest Starbucks.

No, not a latte or an iced cappuccino — I’m talking coffee grounds.

The coffee-shop chain offers complimentary bags of spent coffee grounds to customers. The program is in its 12th year.

“Coffee grounds are a valuable source of nutrition for the garden,” said Mike Lenda, marketing manager for Starbucks’ upper mid-Atlantic region. “Reusing coffee grounds in the garden is a great alternative to disposing of this rich resource from our stores. It’s a win for gardeners and a win for us.”

Tommy Sherwood, manager of the Paramus shop on Route 17 north (next to the Container Store), said his patrons love the idea of getting spent grounds.

“I get a lot of customers who ask for them,” Sherwood said. “Many of the people tell me that they are great for growing everything from tomatoes to flowers.

“This time of year, we have people who come in all the time,” he said. “There’s a Paramus woman who comes in every day and asks me if there are any for her, and there usually are.”

From time to time, the store does run out of grounds to give out, but Sherwood said he has never turned anybody away empty-handed:

“If a person comes in looking for them, and there aren’t any at the moment, I’ll take their name and number and alert them when there are some available.”

Gardeners who would like to pick up grounds should call and ask the store manager or barista for information on the procedure.

Some facts about using grounds in your garden:

# Coffee grounds act as a green material in a compost pile. Integration of them into the pile will help speed the composting process.

# Mix grounds with soil around acid-loving plants like azaleas, holly, rhododendrons and hydrangeas. The plants should flourish with the added dose of nitrogen.

# Repel pests by encircling the base of the plant with coffee and eggshells. Pests such as slugs and snails don’t like the caffeine.

# Dilute grounds with water for a liquid fertilizer. Use about a half-pound can of wet grounds in a five-gallon bucket of water.

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Starting today, catch up on “what’s growing on” in the Garden State with my new gardening blog at northjersey.com/compostings.

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COMPOSTINGS: The Garden Club of Harrington Park will hold its monthly meeting tonight at 7:30 at the Harrington Park Library, 10 Herring St. Topic: “Three Cheers for Spring.” Information: 201-768-2615. … The Demarest Garden Club’s monthly meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Demarest Borough Hall, 118 Serpentine Road, Demarest. Topic: “Put Spring in Your Step.” … The Garden Club of Montclair will hold its monthly meeting at 1 p.m. Monday at the United Way Building Auditorium, 60 S. Fullerton Ave., Montclair. Speaker: Nicholas Polanin, associate professor, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Somerset County. Topic: caring about the trees around us. Information: 973-667-6073. … The Conservation Club of Clifton High School will be the guest of the Garden Club of Clifton at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Senior Center, Clifton City Hall Complex, 900 Clifton Ave., Clifton. … The art of ikebana, Japanese flower arranging, will be demonstrated at the Garden Club of Oakland’s monthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Senior Citizens Center, 20 Lawlor Drive, Oakland. Information: 201-337-7121.

E-mail: edel@northjersey.com

source : www.northjersey.com