fertilizing flowering shrubs/trees

Hi,

I need to fertilize my bottlebrush trees and shrubs. Do I use all green boosting fertilizer or some other like the azalea fertilizer?

Thanks,

Maggie

Why do you need to fertilize? Are they looking poorly? I haven't fertilized in 10 years, and everything is doing just fine. I do fertilize my potted plants, only because they can't get the nutrients they need. The best thing to use is compost, which if you don't make at home, can be purchased at many home centers, and has all the nutrients your plants need. If you must fertilize, on the bag you will see 3 big numbers. They are Macro nutrients. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium. 10-10-10 is an example. A higher Nitrogen number is for greening 10-5-10, and a higher Phosphorus number is for blooming 10-15-10. I hope this helps. John. Here is a web site for you. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP114

Thank you John for your reply. Because most of our property is a sandy sieve. Yes some of them do look poorly- those are the ones I need to fertilize.

As for compost- I'm doing it as fast as I can. The worms are working double shifts. I'm all but buying them food! The Mantis twin tumbler is tumbling. I go and scoop horse poop on a regular basis. I "adopted" 50 bags of the neighbors leaves- this has created a minor short term storage problem but why does the car have to be in the garage anyway? ;-) I haven't yet been able to confince my husband to apply liquid nitrogen when/where I want it though. I expect to wear him down any day now. Clearly you are concerned about the environment- FYI: I use far less than the recommended amount as I also am concerned about runoff.

That's a great link to address the general principles, thanks. I am I am a concrete person though when it comes to things I'm not experienced with. Can I assume then that when the bottlebrushes are finished blooming- I should apply fertilizer with equal parts nitrogen and phosphorus? What about the dwarf bottle brushes that are spindly- much declined from when I bought them a year ago? They have not yet bloomed - in part because I pinched off the puny attempts at blooming. Perhaps I should just use a high nitrogen mixture to establish the plants ell and work on blooming next year?

Thanks for your help,

Maggie

Bottlebrush plants like full sun, dry, sandy soil. They like it on the acid side of the Ph scale. If your dwarf is planted close to the house, or sidewalk, the concrete will leach alkaline into the soil, which may be the cause for decline. You can trim back any of the spindly branches, and clip any that are growing in the center of the bush, that are growing in the wrong direction. An azalea fertilizer will work fine. It is best to use a 50% slow release fertilizer. When placing fertilizer, or water, be sure to put it at least 2 foot away from the trunk, or the drip line. This will encourage the roots to spread, and not stay close to the base of the bush. Be sure to keep mulch at least 3 inches away from the trunk to prevent root rot, and insect infestation. Also remember there are two types of bottlebrush. The weeping ones, like mine, only get leaves on the outer branches, and make the bush weep. They always tend to be more spindly looking. I hope this helps out for you, John.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST111
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST110

Thanks a bunch John, that's just what I needed. The dwarfs ARE planted close to the house. Thanks for the rationale re: fertilizing away from the trunk.

Any insight on the difference between pruning to cut back and shape away suckers and pruning to induce bushiness? I have read several sites on pruning including the ifas site but I still don't get it. When I prune the duranta and the magnolia to raise the limb line, they just produce more unwanted branches. I have seen both of these as standards so I know it can be done.

Thanks,

Maggie

Now Maggie, you have be a prudent pruner and do it daily. I purchased a Daranta Standard to fill an empty spot. It's tied to a straight stick. I hope I can maintain it.
The letting the light into the top is important too.
We'll have to do a roving garden tour sometime here in the summer. I am anxious to see all your endeavours. You have so much garden energy.
Sidney

Maggie I thought I was the only one who collected his neighbors leaves. I have about 45 bags of live oak leaves that I shredded. So I guess in real life I would have about 200 bags or so of unshredded. I found I have to use a LOT of green material with the live oak material. I shredded the live oak leaves because I found in my regular pits live oaks leaves take about 2 years to fully breakdown if not shredded. I just started using the mantis so I am not sure how long it will take to do a load but I do know it's steamy inside the tanks. I found the following book helped when I decided to shape a few trees.

Pruning Made Easy : A gardener's visual guide to when and how to prune everything, from flowers to trees

This message was edited Apr 18, 2006 2:59 PM

Maggie,

Making a shrub into a standard is a time consuming process, but with patience it can be done. The first thing to remember is under every leaf is a bud waiting to grow. They don't grow untill the leaf above it is removed, or falls off. The same is true of branches. My duranta is pruned up about 2 feet from the ground, and continually puts out suckers from the bottom. I do have a variegated privet that is doing better though. What I have done differently is, on the privet at the beginning of spring, when I see the new buds raising on the surface, I put on a pair of rough gloves, and gently rub up and down the branches where I dont want new growth. This lessens the amount of "suckers", but does not completely take care of unwanted growth. Remember to rub gently, as you don't want to scrape the surface of the bark. That can create pest, and damage the vascular system that feeds the rest of the plant. In the nursery to create the standards, they begin when the plant is very young, and continually remove the branches when they are still green, before they have had a chance to get woody. That normally drys out the bud at the same time to keep suckers from forming. The other difference, is most standards are kept in pots, and become very root bound. That forces the plant to put most of the energy into the top growth of the plant for survival, and it doesn't waste energy on suckers. Once you take it out of the pot, and plant it in the ground, it can grow many new roots, and creates a burst of growth. I hope this helps. John.

A shot from the bottom. John.

Privet. John.

Most of the suckers come from where the branches become woody, and were to hard to prunes without hurting the plant. John.

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know! Are you a master Gardener? I'm starting classes this summer/fall.

For 10,000 bonus points- any input on braided standards? I've seen ficus benjamina braided and just today azalea. I want to know how to do that so i can have 2 layers of plants!

Maggie