There are many good reasons to keep an organic focus in your
garden, and today is a great day to advance that cause, even if
it's snowy!
Try our Fertilizer calculator,
the companion to our
acclaimed Mulch Calculator.
How do we do it? Sponsors!
Slow release organic fertilizer
offers lots of advantages. One application lasts months,
supplies nutrients for plants even as it improves the soil's
ability to absorb water and support roots
Organic designates carbon-based fertilizer made from
minimally-processed plant- and animal matter. Examples are manures
(cow manure, poultry manure, bat guano, etc.), cottonseed meal,
feather meal and fish meal. These materials are slow to release
nutrients because soil microorganisms must process them before
plant roots can absorb them. So fertilizer "feeds" the plant as
decay progresses. Along the way, humus forms as a by-product that
helps soil parrticles form into loose, rich crumbs.
Fall for spring, winter for spring and summer
The time to apply slow release fertilizer is in advance of plant
growth, Late winter applications support spring's growth.
So if you can locate your garden or lawn even in winter, you can
start either one on its way to great growth by applying a slow
release fertilizer right over the snow. (If your property has steep
slopes, wait to fertilize as melting snow on a slope might only
take your fertilizer into the storm drain. That's not just a waste,
it's a serious pollution problem.)
Get on the ball for your garden's sake. You'll save time
and net a better garden. As a bonus, you'll also loosen up your
winter-weary muscles with some easy work.
(What about when the snow's still
really deep?!)
Good point! Check the Forum for more...
Here's help for
figuring fertilizer. Be sure to use the help in Cure
Fertilizerphobia in our Garden Care magazine,
too.
There's no reason to get dazed and confused by all the
fertilizer choices. Look for help where you buy slow release
organic fertilizers, at a garden center or feed-and-fertilizer
store.
Here's Dale White, owner of Uncle Luke's Feed Store in Troy,
Michigan, counseling a customer. We've listened in on many such
sessions and consider him one of the most knowledgeable people in
the business when it comes to fertilizer. A bright green thumbs up
to Dale.