Fertilization
Good Nutrition for your Plants

Just as proper nutrition is crucial to human health, proper fertilization is crucial to plant health. Now, we can’t actually feed a plant since plants make their own food through photosynthesis, but we can supply the nutrients that make it possible for that process to occur. Without these nutrients, I can assure you that nothing will happen as well as it can - and I speak from experience. Out of curiosity, I have subjected several small trees and shrubs to a regimen of benign neglect providing nothing but water. Some few have died. The others have done nothing but exist, and it has been years since I’ve seen any now growth or good seasonal color. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the case other than in my garden of plant torture. Adequate and timely fertilization can do much to improve plant health and is one of the primary keys to the success of your landscape.

You are probably wondering why it is necessary to fertilize the plants in your landscape when the trees in the forest seem to thrive without any help at all. Let me just say that the overall conditions in a natural ecosystem are much kinder to plant life that the conditions in your backyard or mine are likely to be. Trees in a forest have the benefit of highly organic topsoil, natural mulching and ample shelter while trees in your yard are often planted in damaged topsoil and subjected to overexposure to salt, exhaust, gases, wind and burning sun. Therefore, you need to give the plants in your landscape every possible defense against these stresses, Proper fertilization together with adequate air and water in the root zone can enable a plant to more easily recover from minor problems and recover with less difficulty when big problems occur.

All effective fertilizers contain three main ingredients in varying ratios: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Some can also contain up to a dozen trace elements depending on the manufacturer’s formula and regional needs. Different plants need different amounts of these elements. Some mixes will be more helpful to flowering plants while other will work to promote vegetative growth. After a proper soil test, check with you nursery or garden center to determine which recipes will benefit your plants the most.

The thing to keep in mind is that fertilizing your plants just once a year may not do the trick since the materials become diluted and move on down through the soil to below the root zone depth.

To be fully effective through the entire growing season, the annuals that you plant this spring should be fertilized once every two weeks if you use a water soluble formula or monthly (30 to 90 days on some) with a slow release granular type. Perennials need it at least twice a year with three applications being preferred. Shrubs and ornamental trees need fertilizer at two times a year and you shade trees should be done at lease once a year. Some very mature trees and shrubs can go 2-3 years between applications. Personally, I generally favor applying several smaller doses so that the nutrients are constantly available when the plant needs them. This is also better for the environment because there is less chance of the fertilizer passing through into the water table without being used by the plant.

There are some who maintain that by not fertilizing their trees, they greatly reduce the amount of pruning they need to do. This may seem logical, but it fact, it simply puts the plant at greater poor health or even risk of death.

Now is one of the best times of the year to fertilize your landscape. So, choose the appropriate mix and give your plants what they need to grow into that beautiful picture you have in your mind this time of year.