Spring Feeding
Every spring is different and each year the true start of spring can be weeks earlier or later than the year before. It’s one of the things that makes gardening a challenge and something that gardeners are used to. Gardeners cannot control the weather, but one thing that does always stay the same, is the gradual lengthening of the days as we pass the spring equinox. From here on in we have the evenings too to garden and we need it. Once the days lengthen and the temperature starts to rise the garden bursts into growth. Bulbs seem to grow before your eyes as the buds appear, fatten and then burst into colourful flowers. Trees and shrubs turn from a skeleton of twiggy stems to a cloak of leaves covering every part.
Many gardeners are proud of the fact that they have never fed their garden plants, claiming that their garden is perfectly ok without additional feeding. While some plants do thrive on poor soils, many others fail to reach their full potential on such a ‘bread and water’ diet. Of course the garden soil contains a range of plant nutrients, but even woodlands and other natural areas use a cycle of growth, death and decay to pass vital nutrients back to the ground. Most gardeners remove dead plants and fallen leaves that would otherwise work their way back into the soil and many of the plants that we choose to grow in our gardens now demand a much more dedicated feeding regime than woodland plants. Most garden soils become depleted of nutrients and where the plants aren’t fed they rarely reach their full potential. You need to feed plants when they are growing vigorously. This is when they need rich levels of nutrients to support and sustain their growth. There are dozens of different types of fertilisers available at the garden centres; you simply need to choose the plant food to suit your plants.
If you are growing organically then it makes sense to choose a fertiliser that supports this choice. Choose a plant food that feeds the soil and your plants and provides a chemical free source of plant nutrients that will release gradually to feed your plants. Look out for chicken manure pellets, farmyard manure, seaweed meal or a soil conditioner that will add organic matter to the soil and provide a slow release food source. Dug into the soil around your plants or simply scattered around them on the surface they will be worked into the soil by the activity of the worms and gradually release the nutrients back to the plants. The organic matter helps improve the soil structure and helps to hold moisture in the soil.
For plants that need an instant feed choose a liquid fertiliser.
These are applied via a watering can, sprayer or hose-end feeder to your plants, and when applied to the foliage out of direct sunlight, they will be taken into the plant leaves quickly for fast, effective results. Liquid food that reaches the soil/compost the plants are growing in, will supply nutrients for uptake by the plant roots.
Don’t forget the plants in your greenhouse and coldframe. While most seedlings don’t need much in the way of additional food (they have a food store in the seed and fertilisers can damage their delicate roots) once they get bigger they will need plenty of nutrients to support them through their early stages of growth. Tomatoes for example need a feed high in nitrogen as they first start to grow and then as they start to make flower buds they need a feed high in potash to encourage more fruit and flowers. Any plants restricted to any type of pot or planter will be totally dependent on the compost in that container for nutrients. Most will require additional feeding.
Garden trees and shrubs all benefit from an early spring feed to support strong and healthy growth. Choose a balanced feed such as Growmore, it’s granular so can be sprinkled around the base of your plants.
For more targeted feeding choose a plant food specially formulated for particular plants. For example a rose food is specially formulated for roses, trees and shrubs and is a particularly good choice for flowering shrubs. It’s designed to support healthy roses, encouraging plenty of rich green foliage and masses of wonderful flowers. Rake it into the soil very lightly taking care not to damage the feeder roots that will be close to the surface.
Acid loving plants need a specialist food designed for their needs. Choose a plant food specially formulated for ericaceous plants. Top dress around the plant roots with a quality ericaceous planting compost.
Feed permanent crops such as herbs, asparagus, rhubarb and fruit in early spring with a balanced all round fertiliser. If you are organic choose a suitable product designed for edible crops and made for organic gardeners.
Containerised trees and shrubs should be fed using a suitable slow release plant food for season long nutrients.
Feed spring bulbs after flowering so that they can build up their reserves before the leaves die down.
Feed the lawn with a dedicated lawn feed. Apply with a spreader for fast and accurate application. Alternatively apply a lawn tonic or lawn conditioner after mowing.
