Caffeine fix is blooming marvellous for gardens

Used coffee grounds from a cafe are being used to perk up prize-winning dahlias in Swansea.

Trenchers Café and the Gallery Restaurant at the Quadrant shopping centre are handing out free bags of the nitrogen-rich grounds to customers.

And first in the queue to try out the fertilising power of coffee is Chairman of Swansea in Bloom and doyen of dahlias Leighton Evans, from Three Crosses, on Gower.

Leighton, whose ambition is to see the city bloom each year, says that Swansea with its mild, warm climate is the ideal place for growers but he’s happy to get some extra help from the coffee grounds.

He and his son, Richard, have won prizes for their dahlias at top events like the Royal Welsh and the Malvern Shows and he said: “I’m ready to give it a go. It could make all the difference.

“Swansea in Bloom has had plenty of support from the Quadrant who sponsor our Schools Competition and it’s good to be able to come here, have a cuppa and go home with something for the garden as well.

“Perhaps the schools will call in for some coffee grounds as well – the competition will be really keen again this year and we have even put last year’s three winners into a Premier League, just like Swansea City.”

Clif Roberson, owner of Trenchers and The Gallery, says the grounds are a wonderful nutritional soil additive and he’s happy to save the used grounds and bag them ready for green-fingered coffee lovers.

The initiative is helping to underline the shopping centre's green credentials and Quadrant Centre Manager Ian Kirkpatrick said: "Giving the used coffee grounds to local gardeners is a brilliant idea - no wonder it's growing in popularity!"

For more information on Swansea In Bloom including details on how to enter go to http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=45063