Your trees require year-round care to be their healthiest and look their best. As the fall season approaches, that means it is an ideal opportunity to fertilize your trees before they go dormant for the winter. Your Johnson City outdoor experts at Promier Tree want to help prepare you for the change in seasons, by providing these three keys to fall fertilizing.
Fall is the best time of the year to fertilize your trees
Arborists in Kingsport, who are licensed and expertly-trained with the professional knowledge to care for all varieties of trees, recommend that fertilization should take place in the late fall—usually during the month of November. Fertilizing trees at this time of year helps make sure they have enough nutrients to last through the dormancy of winter and be able to thrive when the weather warms up again during spring.
Fertilizing your trees too early can actually do more harm than good. If you fertilize your trees too early in the fall growing cycle, it can affect the roots and lead to the growth of mold on the roots—especially if you experience a lot of snow during the winter.
It is vital to fertilize your trees before the ground freezes
By doing so, you make sure the nutrients in your fertilizer will reach the roots of the trees. You can fertilize after the first frost of the winter, assuming that the ground warms up following that frost.
You should fertilize your trees before the ground freezes to ensure the nutrients gets to their roots. It is okay to fertilize your trees after the first frost of the year, as long as the ground in your area warms up again after the first frost.
Nitrogen should be your fertilizer of choice, but it may not be enough
One of the most popular and widely-used types of fertilizer, nitrogen is a compound that does great things for your lawn and your trees. When applied as a fall fertilizer, nitrogen encourages tree growth throughout the entire dormant season.
Fertilizing trees may involve increasing the intake of other nutrients, which are provided by potassium and phosphorus, which encourage the growth of healthy foliage. Many types of trees have different nutritional needs. To make sure what your trees need to be their best until the next spring, consider having a professional arborist in Johnson City perform a soil test on your property. Using this information, the arborist can provide you with information on what nutrients are lacking in your soil and what you need to fertilize your trees with before winter comes.
Fall fertilization for trees in Kingsport
Applying fertilizer can be tricky. It should be placed around the entire radius of the outer locations of your tree roots, rather than up against the base of the tree. Depending on the tree, the root system could be as much as seven times wider than the foliage area of the tree. To make sure your tree gets the nutrients it needs, in the locations it needs, consider having the professionals at Promier Tree handle your fall fertilization needs for you. Our professional and trained arborists have the firsthand knowledge to work with any type of tree to make sure it remains at optimum health, while also giving you a watering schedule to follow after the fertilizer has been applied.
To learn more about our tree maintenance services in the Tri-Cities, call Promier Tree at (423) 765-2626 to have one of our arborists come to your property to perform a consultation.
Promier Tree serves the needs of customers located in the areas of Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol in Tennessee.