Fertilizing Young Trees: How Early Should You Start?

Who doesn’t want their newly planted trees to live long, healthy lives? While sunlight and water are essential, your young trees need more than that to thrive. This is where fertilizing comes in.

Unfortunately, fertilizing young trees isn’t as straightforward as you might think. For instance, it can be challenging to know how early you can start fertilizing your newly planted trees.

To help clear up the confusion, here are a few tips from Indian River’s trusted tree service company, King Tree Management. Reach out today to learn more about fertilizing young trees and the best tree care practices. 

Do You Need to Fertilize?

Since trees in the forest thrive without any fertilizer, it’s easy to assume that the trees on your property will as well. However, this isn’t the case. The trees in the forest receive the nutrients they need from the decaying leaves and plant matter, but your yard won’t provide these.

Like most homeowners, you probably rake the leaves that fall on your yard, preventing the recycling of nutrients. The good news is that fertilization can help compensate for this loss.

How to Know If Your Young Trees Need Fertilizing

Several factors will help you determine if you’ll need to fertilize your trees, such as the type of soil you have and the amount of rain you get.

A soil test can help you determine if there are any nutrient deficiencies and which type of fertilizer to apply. Usually, your young trees might need fertilizer if:

• They are not growing as much as they should
• Their leaves are becoming smaller
• The leaves are yellow when they are supposed to be green
• Their leaves are changing color and dropping prematurely

How Early Should You Start Fertilizing Young Trees?

Fertilizing young trees is a crucial part of tree care. However, it is essential to get it right to avoid inflicting damage.

Are you unsure about how early you should start fertilizing your young trees? The general rule is to wait until after your trees’ first growing season or once their roots have become well-established. After the first growing season, you should fertilize your trees lightly once a year to promote rapid, healthy growth.

Use a fertilizer with 3 to 12 percent phosphorous and potassium content and between 12 and 30 percent nitrogen content. Also, remember to spread the fertilizer evenly across the surface of the soil, about one and a half times the diameter of your tree’s branches.

Professional Arborist Services You Can Trust

Proper fertilization can be the difference between a tree that thrives and one that struggles throughout the year. But there’s more to fertilizing young trees than meets the eye. The good news is that you can always turn to King Tree Management for the professional help you need.

From fertilization to offering tips on watering a tree, you can count on our comprehensive tree care solutions. Call King Tree Management today at (772) 633-1939 to keep your trees healthy and thriving.