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Keeping it Green Requires a Little Help

By Jos Van Hage

To keep any plant healthy, you need to give it fertilizer. Whether it is a tree, shrub, perennial, annual, vegetable, bulb or a lawn, all these plants need nutrients to help them grow. Fertilizer comes in a few different forms such as water soluble, organic, granular, controlled release, and stakes. 

The water soluble fertilizer is the type that is a powder that you mix with water and then give to the plants. It can be sprayed directly on the foliage of the plant or given to the soil, either way it instantly feeds the plant. This type is often used for house plants, and container plants. Because it feeds the plant instantly when you use it on outdoor container planters such as hanging baskets, planters or vegetables grown in pots you need to apply it every 7-10 days. I have used this type for years and have had much success with it.

Another type of fertilizer that is often used for larger areas such as flower beds, vegetable gardens or lawns is the granular fertilizer. This is the dry type that is spread by either machine or hand strewn and works it way to the plants roots. The granular fertilizer can come in quick release or slow-release. The quick release is good to start the garden or lawn off in spring and then the next application 3-4 weeks later can be a slow or controlled release fertilizer. A slow release fertilizer is one that has been coated with a resin or sulfur which when it comes in contact with moisture will slowly break down and feed the plant. Depending on moisture and soil conditions and can feed a plant for as long as 3-4 months. 

Granular fertilizers can also come in combination with a herbicide such the ‘Weed n Feed’ or ‘Lawn fertilizer with Moss Control’ and these do two jobs in one by feeding the lawn and killing off unwanted weeds and moss. When using these combination fertilizers you need to read the instructions carefully as weather, temperature, and water play an important part in the success of the weed control. Another thing to keep in mind when using Weed n Feed is to be careful where you spread it as it will kill trees, shrubs or any other wanted plants that it will come in contact with. It is always better to be overcautious and keep far back from these plants as they can have an outstretched root system and the weed killers can spread further than you planned.

One other type of fertilizer is the organic types and these include manure such as the steer and the one I like to use mushroom manure. Organic fertilizers are those derived from some form of once-living organisms. Blood meal, and bone meal are organic and so are the fish fertilizers.

When you look at a fertilizer container you will notice that they have 3 hyphenated numbers on them. These 3 numbers indicate the amount of Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium it contains. The first number is nitrogen and plants use it to form chlorophyll and increase leaf production. High nitrogen fertilizers are used for lawns and evergreens as you want to promote the green. The second number is phosphorus which aids in root development and blossom and seed production. 

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates three Art Knapp’s Garden Centres int he Prince George area:
-Highway 97 South at the old Cariboo Highway
-Highway 97  North
-Highway 16 West


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