Autumn is the best time to fertilize your yard.
By feeding turf in fall, you help fuel the growing process, nourishing roots to spread and grow deeper and wider. Healthy grass roots mean a quicker green-up in spring and a thicker lawn that can crowd out weeds.
When to apply fertilizer?
During fall, September through early October is the best time to fertilize your lawn. Grass is recovering from a long hot summer and may be coming out of a drought-induced dormancy, so you’ll want to give your lawn a shot of nitrogen to push blade growth.
While this fall lawn fertilizer dose is important, an application at the end of October or early November is essential. At that time, apply a fertilizer with a formula of 13-25-12. The push of phosphorus will stimulate root growth through November and even into early December. By helping roots grow before winter sets in, you are insuring that the lawn will green-up quicker in the spring and become more resistant to disease and draught.
Do not fertilize your Perennial Plants!
Fall is filled with a whole slew of outdoor garden and landscape chores, but there is one you can avoid without worry : the need to fertilize perennial plants in your flowerbeds! Not only is it unnecessary, it can actually be harmful to the long-term health of perennials. In fact, in some cases, it can even lead to them perishing over winter.
As the cooler temperatures of fall settle in, the growth of a perennial plant begins to slow dramatically. Blooms and bloom cycles rarely occur, and in many cases, stop entirely. In addition, plants cease trying to grow any new branches, stems or foliage as well. This all occurs as naturally, as the plants begin to prepare for the winter ahead. It may seem as though the plant is completely shutting down, it actually is still hard at work. Work that is extremely important to its wintertime survival!
So if you can’t fertilize your perennial plants, what can you do in the fall to help them prepare for winter? First and foremost, it’s vital to cut back and mulch plants before winter sets in. Removing decaying foliage and adding a protective layer of mulch will help insulate plants through winter, and help to keep pests and disease away as well. High-powered fertilizers are a no-no, you can provide a bit of compost around the plants that will help them as they come out of their slumber next spring.
Tree & Shrub Fertilizer:
Fall is also a great time to fertilize shrubs and trees because most of them are located in mulch beds that use up nitrogen as they decompose. In addition, every fall we rake leaves off these beds, depriving plants of the nutrients that decomposing leaves would traditionally release. As a rule of thumb, you should only fertilize in the fall when the soil is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent unseasonal growth that can damage the tree.
How can I tell if my trees need fertilizer?
- Stunted growth – When a tree can’t get all the nutrients it needs, it will slow its growth to conserve energy.
- Thin or patchy foliage – If a tree is lacking nutrients, it will cut off resources to twigs and branches to conserve energy.
- Yellow leaves – Nutrient deficiency shows up in a tree’s leaves, making them yellow instead of healthy green.
- Dropped leaves – Your tree may drop leaves during the growing season when it doesn’t have enough nutrients and food energy to support them.
- Insects and diseases – A stressed tree has fewer natural defenses and is more susceptible to attacks from insect pests and diseases.
If you’re not sure about what kind of fertilizer your trees need, don’t guess. You could be doing more harm than you think. Both the wrong kind of fertilizer and the wrong amount will have negative effects.
Different types of trees and shrubs have different needs. If you want more fruit, for example, you don’t give your fruit tree lots of nitrogen, as nitrogen stimulates green leaf growth, not fruit growth.
Likewise, potassium fertilizer won’t help yellowing leaves as it encourages fruit development.
Test your soil:
Before applying fertilizer to your trees & shrubs, you should take the time to test your soil with a soil pH tester kit, or a nutrient test kit, in order to determine which nutrients your trees & shrubs may be lacking, and the condition of the soil’s pH.
Nutrient Balance N-P-K
The acronym N-P-K is a way of describing the nutrient composition of a fertilizer. Each letter is an abbreviation of a nutrient, where N stands for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus, and K for Potassium. For example, the packaging may tell us that a certain product has an N-P-K 6-6-6 fertilizer, it would contain 6% Nitrogen, 6% Phosphorus, and 6% Potassium. But what are these numbers and what do they do?
(N) Nitrogen is what the plant uses for the foliage or leafy growth. This is typical of any of the vegetative growth stages of a plant.
(P) Phosphorus is important for root development and the production of fruits and seed.
(K) Potassium is primarily used in the production of flowers and fruits, so great for tomatoes or other high blooming species like roses.
If you have question, we welcome you to reach out to MVG. We love helping our customers protect their trees and shrubs. 937-845-0093.
Keep in mind, these nutrients will still be in the soil come spring when plants start to grow. If you have a tree or shrub that does not flower well, a dose of super phosphate will help promote flower growth. However, if the plant is not located in the right spot, all the super phosphate in the world won’t make it flower.
Do I need to apply bulb Fertilizer?
Fall is also the time to plant bulbs. We recommend using super phosphate to promote root growth, insuring strong flowering in the spring. Some people recommend using bone meal when planting bulbs, but it may attract rodents who eat both the bone meal and the bulbs.
As you can tell, the basic goal of fall fertilizing is to promote root growth. When you have strong roots, you have healthy plants with numerous flowers. So push those roots!
For more information give us a call a 937-845-0093 or ask a question here.
