"Too much" is too vague, but there is the possibility of having too much. One of the reasons the bogs and swamps smell bad, sometimes, is because of too much organic matter. Too much of anything can be bad so what you should strive for is balance. Use the coffee grounds you can get but be sure they are mixed with other types of organic matter to work toward balance.

Do you plan on using those UCG for nitrogen balance in your compost pile?

And you can always share any extra that you don't use, with another gardener.

Also, the Sunset Magazine test summary: " Use of Starbucks coffee grounds in amending mineral soils up to 35 percent by volume coffee grounds will improve soil structure over the short-term and over the long-term. Use of the coffee grounds at the specified incorporation rates (rototilled into a 6- to 8-inch depth) will substantially improve availabilities of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and copper and will probably negate the need for chemical sources of these plant essential elements."

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset report on UCG

I just found a coffeeshop by my work that is going to let me leave a bucket there for grounds; they said they could fill 10-20 buckets a day. I will probably just leave one five gallon bucket and get it every other day for a while.

I'm going to put it in my compost to a point, but the rest I am going to spread over my yard. I understand it's a pretty good way to add nutrients to the lawn...though I may just put it in my front yard for now as my dog might eat it all up.

Are there a variety of uses you could find for your endless supply of grounds?

Oh my gosh you are lucky! It is amazing how flinging them into your lawn takes quite a bit of grounds. Hard for me to imagine having too much. If you can sprinkle your yard in segments, the total area 2-3 times per year, I would think that you are going to make it beautiful. Sprinkle some in garden beds and compost. No more than about 1/2 inch I think or it could impede water penetration. If in scattered small crumbles you should not have to worry about a crust forming.

You are so lucky! Does your neighbor garden with them also? What a healthy neighborhood you could have - if the work spreads you could get more neighbors reducing their lawn chemicals.

I've been doing a lot of reading about coffee and gardening lately. Some sources say not to put more than 10% in a compost pile. I don't know why that is since other sources say it is perfectly safe to put around plants and even mix directly in the planting bed. In fact, they are said to repel slugs/snails (probably because they are sharp like crushed eggshells), good for keeping cats from "using" your garden, and worms love them so vermicomposting is a good use.

The acid in coffee is nearly all soluble so if you have used grounds they are nearly neutral. If you want acid for blueberries, etc. then use un-used grounds to get the acid.

Other uses for coffee I've found are not really garden related. They can be mixed in liquid body wash for a body "scrub". There is also a recipe on the net for coffee fireplace logs/fire starters. I guess coffee burns hotter and longer than wood. Haven't tried them but they actually make java-logs commercially and sell them so it must work. Deodorize your freezer or use them as a hand scrub after cutting onions or other strong smelling foods.

I bet there are hundreds more but these are the ones I remember.

If you have a layer more than about 1/2 inch thick on the garden, they can dry out and form a crust that repels water. That doesn't seem to happen if you compost them first. A lawn can take a lot before it becomes too much, but my wife objects to the smell once it gets hot out. I don't know where the 10% limit in compost comes from. I've made compost that was almost 50% coffee grounds and had no problem.

"I've made compost that was almost 50% coffee grounds and had no problem." Me too. :O)

It looks like I'll be getting quite a bit delivered to me from now on. At work, the supplier mentioned today he'd like to find a gardener to use the stuff and my grin went from ear to ear. I guess before he comes to our place he empties the machines at several other locations, so from now on he's going to bring them to me. Says he has two 5 gallon buckets every day at least.

Too sweet. Now I don't even have to pick up the stuff, and this supplier doesn't do filters either!!

I make my compost with 50% coffee grounds and it works best this way. Only 10% would be called for if you add them straight to your soil. UCG are too acid, attract flies and will kill some plants, but once composted are perfectly safe, and will no longer attract flies or grow mold. Some people use them to kill weeds. Put them straight grounds on top of the weeds. Later turn them into the soil as they will attract flies after a few days. UCG will also soften the soil and make it easier to remove the weeds. If you touch them with your hands you will feel the burning sensation from all the acid. The acid will even eat through plastic bags if you are transporting them around in plastic. Its best to place on the ground to allow them to drain instead of storing them sealed up. UCG sealed in bags will mold because they can not dry out.

I can not even imagine having too much UCG. When I out about 200 pounds in my garden area you could smell a funky 'spoiled' coffee smell for a day or two but that was all. I get all I can now.

I was thinking about covering my yard with 1/2 inch of UCG and started laughing. I wonder how many dump trucks that would take.

Thank you all! very helpful. Now I know, I'll be far away from "too much". I'll take and use whatewver I'll get. I have quite a big garden and a some lawn to fertilize.

"UCG are too acid"

Actually, although coffee is acidic, the grounds are close to neutral. The acidic compounds are water soluble, so they end up in the coffee.

bpgreen
I believe you are correct. Everything I've read says the acid goes in the coffee and the spent grounds are almost neutral.

There is a planting bed across the parking lot, in full sun, from the church kitchen from which I get quite a bit of coffee grounds (in addition to what the staff uses daily and comes from the various groups that meet there, AA and many others not just church committees) we also serve a breakfast every Saturday morning which generates quite a bit of coffee grounds. These grounds are plunked down on this planting bed and there is no odor and the soil under the coffee grounds stays evenly moist and I have not seen a problem with the coffee grounds repeling rain since the only water this bed gets is from the rain.

Kimmsr writes,"I have not seen a problem with the coffee grounds repeling rain."

I have, but then again in the past, and soon in the future again, I was and will be dealing with over 200 lbs of UCGs per week and not just a few filters-full per day.

We have to make it clear that the concept of UCGs repelling water or rain is relative to 1-the amount used and 2-whether they are wet or dry. The more used, especially in terms of thickness, and the drier the UCGs, the more likely they are to repel water.

This past week, I filled a wheelbarrow with shredded leaves and on top dumped 1/2 a 5 gallon buckets of dry UCGs. I was interrupted from mixing and wetting this mix together to create some mulch for the gardens and could only return 24 hours later. During that time we had an inch of rain and when I returned the rain had simply rolled off the UCGs and had gone to the bottom of the wheelbarrow. The UCGs were as dry as a bone.

A couple of years ago I also tried to mulch a hosta garden bed using only UCGs. I placed it 2 inches thick. There was no rain for a few days and the UCGs dried up and a few weeks later I noticed the hostas were failing. I mixed the UCGs into the soil and began watering until all was moist and the hostas began growing properly. The grounds had crusted after the few dry days and they were repelling water from the ground and the plant roots.

UCGs and shredded leaves have been my main source of amendments in the gardens since 2002.

Kimmsr I had plant death with lily of the valley. I put UCG on the shade bed without composting them first and the lily of the valley died right away. Now I never use UCG straight.

The trick is to make sure they stay a little moist. If they build up and crust you can have a problem. I just scatter the grounds and then make sure they are watered in. No problem.

And some grounds, (or grinds) are quite different. My stuff from Starbucks is mostly espresso and quite fine. The coffee I make myself from WalMart brand leaves a very course grind.

In 1994 I stuck a Ficus cutting in a twelve inch pot full of the WalMart grinds. That's it. Nothing more. Watered it regularly with water from a guppy tank and kept it in low light. The cutting rooted. Now, sixteen years later, the Ficus is about three feet tall. It is not quite as luscious and shiny green as the ones you might buy or propagate by better methods. In the real world a sixteen year old Ficus would be much taller, wouldn't it? The cutting might have rooted and grown in nothing but the guppy water. My point was the experiment and not the end product. I feel I have one demonstration of one plant growing in nothing but coffee grounds and guppy water.

On an earlier occasion I had a Sansevieria that survived for thirteen years in a low light office being "watered" with nothing but stale black coffee at the end of each working day.

I read that espresso UCG are more acidic than regular grounds. I've gotten mostly regular from SB ... but once in a while get those little fine-textured 'pills', which I assume are expresso. I put the regular UCG on my outdoor worm pit and in no time they are thick with worms. If there were too much acid in the regular UCG, those little soft-bodied wrigglers wouldn't venture into the material. Also, sometimes I don't open the plastic bags the regular UCG come in for a week or two ... and after sitting in the hot sun, they still haven't eaten through the plastic bag.

I have used UCG's on my garden for the last 6 years. Have never had a plant to die, they do not repel water in my garden, have never had a fly problem, the only time they have molded was when I got behind in spreading them, rarely have enough to compost because I use them directly on the beds. I get UCG from two locations...apply 5 gallons or more at a time in my veggie and flower beds. Last Fall I put my beds to sleep for the Winter by adding UCG and leaves from my neighbor's yard. This Spring I pulled those leaves back from my beds, added compost that I had just screened from two piles, added more shredded leaves and then UCG. I have never had a problem with the UCG being dry.

If I could get 200 lbs per week, I would be very happy.