Best Time to Fertilize Hydrangeas

  

My brother gave me a beautiful hydrangea plant last year and I took the steps to learn as much as I could about how to care for and when to fertilize.

The best time to fertilize a hydrangea is seasonally.  Late winter or early spring when new growth appears. Then again in May or when summer begins again in July to help the hydrangea flowers continue to bloom throughout the summer months.

 

Here is a photo of the hydrangea that I planted in the ground last year.  You can see that there is new growth.  So, I fertilized it with Espoma organic soil acidifier because it would turn my hydrangeas blue. 

 

You can also fertilize your hydrangeas with spent coffee grounds.  So pour yourself a cup of coffee and save the grounds for your hydrangeas.  I lightly sprinkle the coffee grounds on the soil around my hydrangeas plants.

Recycle Coffee for Fertilizer

Pour a cup of coffee for yourself, then recycle the coffee grounds to use as fertilizer for your yard. The  coffee grounds will enrich your lawn and garden soil with phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, copper and calcium. Your acid loving plants will be healthy with vibrant blooms and your lawn will be lush and green.

Storing Recycled Coffee Grounds

Accumulate coffee for fertilizer by saving spent coffee grounds.  The best way to save the coffee is to turn the grounds from coffee filter over onto a paper towel and  air dry. When the coffee grounds are dry; put the grounds into an air tight container and store in a cool dry place. 

Fertilize with Coffee
Nourish your acid loving flowers with coffee grounds by scooping handfuls of the dry coffee and then spreading the coffee grounds around your acid loving plants, flowering shrubs and evergreens.  


Water after you fertilize with coffee as the water will help in breaking down the nutrients so that they get to the plants roots. 

Amend garden soil with Coffee
Get a new garden bed ready by amending the soil with the recycled coffee grounds. 

Ready the gardens by removing the grass; weeds, rock and other debris then use your tiller to break up eight inches of the top soil.  Work the clumps out of the soil until it is a fine texture then amend with the coffee grounds.  

Water the new garden bed lightly. The water will allow the nutrients found in coffee to slowly release into the soil. 

Feed your Lawn with Coffee

Another way to recycle coffee is to fertilize your lawn.  Add dry coffee grounds to your broadcaster and spread the coffee evenly on your lawn, then water the grass.  Your grass will green up fast and will grow in as a lush lawn.

List of Acid Loving Plants and Shrubs
 Amaryllis, aster, azalea, bleeding heart, blueberry, camellia dogwood, evergreens, fern, fir, gardenia, holly, huckleberry hydrangea, lily of the valley, lupine, magnolia, marigold, roses, rhododendrons, strawberries

Other Uses for Coffee
Repel ants, slugs, snails, grubs, cats and dogs from your flower beds with spent coffee grounds.

Dilute any leftover coffee in the pot with water and feed your acid loving houseplants with the watered down coffee.  

Recycle coffee by adding to your compost.
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