Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds add acidity to soil. After you brew a pot of coffee, sprinkle the grounds on the soil around any acid-loving plants, like azalea, hydrangea, and magnolia.
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Outdoors
Fertilize Your Garden With Household Scraps
by Mrs. Fixit
Don't throw away your tea bags, banana peels, egg shells, and other organic trash. Use them as nutrient-rich fertilizers instead!
I love getting to work on my flower beds every year, caring for my perennials and planting my annuals. It's such calming and fulfilling work. But I know it's not just the planting and weeding that's important. Fertilizing the soil is also crucial for adding nutrients and making plants strong enough to combat damage from pests and their environment, not to mention boost root, leaf and flower growth.
All you DIYers will be happy to know that you don't need to run to the store every time you want to fertilize your soil. You probably have some great, all-natural fertilizers right in the house. You can either add them to your compost -- or, if you're not the composting type, you can add these ingredients on their own. Then watch your garden flourish!
View the slideshow above for unusual ways to fertilize your garden.
For more on gardening, check out 8 Natural Methods for Killing Weeds and How to Resod Dead Grass.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Tags: Budget, Green Friendly, Gardening, Outdoors
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Fireplace Ashes
For plants that thrive in more alkaline soil -- such as yarrow , delphinium, and pink carnation-- sprinkle some fireplace ashes (if you happen to have any hanging around this time of year) around your plants.
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Newspaper
Nitrogen is a natural fertilizer and is produced in the waste of all garden creatures. Feed the creatures and you feed the soil. Worms love paper, so rather than sending the whole newspaper to the recycling bin when you've finished reading it, bury some around the base of your plants. The worms will eat it and help the soil to thrive.Photo Credit: Getty Images/Jeremy Maude
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Sugar
Those beneficial garden insects will eat sugar too. In addition to sprinkling pure sugar in the soil on the soil, you can add foods that are high in sugar. Sugary cereal crumbs, for instance, have both sugar and other nutrients, so sprinkle the crumbs from the bottom of the box around your plants.
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Another easy sugar source is an energy drink. It will give you a one two punch: first, it feeds the organisms in the soil and second, it adds potassium -- a really important nutrient for plants!
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Banana Peels
Another great source of potassium is banana peels. They're especially good for roses. Simply bury them at the base of the rose bush and watch those flowers bloom!
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Tea Bags
Used tea bags buried in the soil will release nutrients and the paper will decompose easily and feed those pests to help your plants thrive.
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Egg Shells
Eggshells are composed of calcium and magnesium. Simply crush them up and sprinkle them around your plants. Not only do the shells infuse the soil with nutrients, but plant-eating slugs don't like to crawl over the sharp shells and will stay away.
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Cooking Water
Cooking water used to boil potatoes,eggs, and even vegetables are a great source for fertilizer. The nutrients released in the water when the food is cooked are just the thing your outdoors needs. Make sure to let the cooked water cool before utilizing it.
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Epson Salt
The magnesium found in epson salt is a great source for tons of gardening fertilizer applications. Sprinkle it on top of the soil, place it in the dug hole before planting, or dissolve it in teh water can—it's the all-purpose garden prep.
Photo Credit: Corbis/Tammy Hanratty -
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Hair
Repurpose leftover hair on your hairbrush as fertilizer that's a great source of nitrogen. Your pet dog or cat's hair works just the same and you can even see if your hair salon saves hair that you can use. Best of all, hair acts a s deer repellant that will keep your new blooms safely growing.
Photo Credit: Alamy
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