Gardening Q&A

Winter 2025 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

How do I use coffee grounds in the garden?

Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, and are best used for acid-loving plants like blueberries, hydrangeas, azaleas, carrots, tomatoes and radishes. I sprinkle coffee grounds around my vegetables and flowers during the growing season, and when the garden is fallow, I mix the grounds into the soil.

I have plants the deer aren’t supposed to eat, but they do. What gives?

Deer will nibble on almost anything at least once and especially during months when food is scarce. Spray deer repellent on the plants every two weeks or so. My go-to plants the deer never bother are rosemary, Spanish lavender, kniphofia, Pieris, Shasta daisies, yucca, hesperaloe (though they will eat the flowers), Jerusalem sage, artemisia, daphne and gardenia.

I was told to add chicken manure to my vegetable garden beds, and the plants love it, but it’s a bit smelly. What can I do about the odor?

Instead of using the manure as a top dressing, incorporate it into the soil. No more fragrant chicken manure odors!