Everything needs food. I am a proponent of fertilizing newly planted trees and shrubs and also ornamental trees and shrubs. I am not a proponent of feeding large trees primarily because we have no idea where their roots systems are.
We use a very balanced, long-lasting fertilizer with a mycorrhizal suite and micronutrients – a “compost tea,” if you will. The Mychorrhzal fungi have shown to be beneficial to the plants by increasing root mass and density thus increasing nutrient uptake. The fungi do this by increasing, through their own filament development, the surface area of the absorptive roots. The fungi also breakdown complex nutrients into a form that is more usable to the plant.
Micronutrients are also important to plant health. Manganese, molybdenum, and iron are very important to the chloroplasts and play a vital role in photosynthesis. Unfortunately, these micronutrients are not in a basic fertilizer. We add them in to improve the plant health.
So what trees and shrubs should get fertilized? In my opinion, foundation plantings, island plantings, and new shrubs and trees all benefit from deep root fertilization. Large tree roots are too far from the tree to be able to inject a fertilizer into their root zone.
In order to promote our tree fertilizer program, I will give a $25 off coupon to any new sign-up to the tree and shrub program.
