Horticulture : News
DATE: March 23, 2010
HARDIN COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
201 Peterson Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701-9370
BY: Amy Aldenderfer
County Extension Agent for Horticulture
Do Your Yard a Favor Don't Feed it this Spring
A sure sign of spring's arrival is succulent, green growth on shrubs and trees in the yard.
It's tempting to fertilize them to aid spring growth, but this often does more harm than good.
Adding lots of fertilizer during spring growth doesn't aid most plants because applying nitrogen, the element from which most landscape plants benefit, encourages abundant shoot growth. The plant's root system might not be extensive enough to take up sufficient water to supply this profusion of vegetative growth in the hot, dry summer months.
The best time to fertilize most landscape trees and shrubs is late fall, ideally between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Fall fertilization encourages growth and development of roots that will grow through much of the winter. Plants that have an extensive root system will be able to support shoot growth during the spring. Then, you don't have the problem of more vegetative growth than the root system can supply with water and nutrients.
Fertilization is not necessary for all landscape trees and shrubs. Often, the only ones that should receive regular fertilization are very young trees where rapid growth is desired, or very old trees, or plants under stress.
Most feeder roots are in the top few inches of soil, even on very large trees, so apply fertilizer to the soil surface. Surface application allows the fertilizer to penetrate the soil slowly so the roots can take up the nutrients over an extended period of time. Because plants and trees take up more of the fertilizer, less finds its way into the groundwater.
Drilling holes and putting fertilizer in these results in fertilizer that's too concentrated for adjacent roots. Plus, fertilizer in the bottom of holes already is deeper than many feeder roots.
Fertilizing the lawn in the spring, will cause you to mow the grass two to three times a week, instead of once a week. Who would want to do all that extra work?
NOTE: The nest session of the Gardeners’ Toolbox Series 2010 is “Gardening for the Butterflies”. Tuesday, April 27, 6:00 pm, Cost $5.00. Learn to build a garden around the “Flying Flowers of Nature”. Garden Design, host and nectar plants and garden accessories will be shown and given as door prizes. You must register and pay by the deadline, April 20, 2010. Class will be held at the Hardin County Extension Office, 201 Peterson Drive. Elizabethtown, KY 42701 270-765-4121
Website Design