Hydrangeas are known for their beautiful blooms and will produce bigger and more bountiful flowers when fed the right breakfast staple before summer. 

Coffee grounds are incredibly beneficial to hydrangeas as they contain the nutrient nitrogen, which plays a crucial role in keeping these flowers healthy, helping leaf growth and is also important for flower production. 

If hydrangeas do not get enough nitrogen, it will cause the leaves to go yellow, the plant to appear stunted and result in weak and drained-looking flowers, or it might not produce flowers at all. 

Susan Conforte McNeill, a garden designer and founder of Susan Said What, has shared that coffee grounds not only hugely benefit hydrangeas as a fertiliser but is also an easy way to change the colour of your blooms.

She said: “I’ve learned that turning a hydrangea blue naturally, with no harsh chemicals, can actually be easy. Just add… coffee!” 

Before using coffee grounds to feed your hydrangea it is best to check the pH level of the flower’s soil, as while acidity is needed to help hydrangeas keep healthy, too much can be harmful to the plant. 

According to Susan, checking the pH level will help you amend the soil before the hydrangeas begin producing “big, beautiful blue blooms” in the summer. 

She said: “Soil pH testing kits are widely available at speciality home and garden stores, big box retailers, and even on Amazon.” 

To use coffee grounds as a fertiliser, all you have to do is mix the coffee grounds with a little bit of water and place the solution into the soil around your hydrangeas. You can pour used and leftover distilled coffee into the soil to cut down on food waste. 

Susan said: “To adjust the acidity of the soil, coffee grounds are the simple, easy and free solution. 

“The increased acidity from coffee grounds makes it easier for the plant to absorb naturally occurring aluminium in the dirt, resulting in beautiful blue flowers.”

This process will take a little while and should only be done once every month, but will help give your hydrangeas the boost to begin producing strong and healthy blue flowers in summer. 

Not only are coffee grounds an easy-to-use fertiliser, but it has the added benefit of improving soil drainage and aerating the soil, plus it keeps pests or pets from going near your hydrangeas. 

Susan said: “Many gardeners swear that coffee grounds are also helpful in keeping slugs and snails away from plants. Similarly, the coffee is helpful as a cat repellent and will keep neighbourhood cats from using your flower beds as a litter box.

“So, brew an extra pot and sit down to a delicious cup of Joe… with your plant!”