Tea leaves for Gardening | Utilizing Tea Bags
How to use tea leaves after brewing your favorite tea? Tea is the most popular beverage loved by many of us. We usually discard the trash generated in the process of brewing tea. After you make your favorite brew, what do you do with the used teabags? You can either dispose of them, but a better option would be to use tea leaves for gardening or take them to your compost bin to give tea leaves another life.
Benefits of Tea leaves for Gardening
Rather than tossing teabags into the trash where they will end up decomposing in a landfill. So give your tea leaves/tea bags some new life by utilizing it in the garden or compost bin.
Tea leaves are an organic matter that can increase soil drainage. They also help with good airing for plant roots and improve the soil to maintain humidity and nutrients. You can even eat tea leaves by putting them in capsules, or use them for various recipes.
Tea leaves are a good source of nitrogen for your garden. Tea leaves are also an excellent source of nutrients for your plants. However, you can also use paper teabags — not polyester ones — as compost for the garden. I love to sprinkle tea leaves around plants in my small garden. Tea leaves are good for plants such as tomatoes and roses because they contain all the essential nutrients and minerals.
Adding Tea Leaf Mulch
How to add tea leaves to a garden? There are two ways to utilize tea leaves best. The first is to place them on the surface of your soil as mulch to keep the soil moist. As they release nutrients into the ground, they also attract earthworms that aid in the decomposition process. Moreover, tea leaf mulch blocks sunlight from the land, so it prevents weeds from germinating. You can use both fresh and dried or old tea leaves.
Composting Tea Leaves
The second is to compost tea leaves in the garden. These also speeds up the decomposition process and provide your soil with a healthy dose of nutrients. These also improve your soil’s drainage and aeration.
How and When to add Tea Leaves to your Garden?
Tea leaves can benefit the garden around the year. During the summer you can apply tea leaves as mulch. However, you can also add them to a separate compost pile and thus allowing them to decompose.
Do not incorporate them directly into the soil, because you may disturb growing plant roots. Bury biodegradable teabags or use loose tea leaves directly in the garden close to the root system of plants.
As a bonus, teabags and leaves can help with water retention and impede weeds. Used teabags and loose leaf tea are organic and compostable materials that can provide minerals and nutrients. Throwing tea leaves like trash is like discarding valuable nutrients and minerals. However, adding them to the garden will reduce the need for fertilizers.
A naturally occurring substance in tea-Tannic acid can lower the pH of soil. It might be unfavorable for some plants. Have you ever use tea leaves for gardening? Do share your gardening tips with us. We will be waiting.