{"id":2780,"date":"2019-05-18T00:05:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T07:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-571\/"},"modified":"2024-01-30T16:11:44","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T00:11:44","slug":"on-feeding-plants-vs-feeding-the-soil","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/on-feeding-plants-vs-feeding-the-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"on feeding plants vs. feeding the soil"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a Viburnum<\/em> x bodnantense<\/em>, or what looks a lot<\/strong>
\nlike one, and it is blooming already, although this year’s leaves have not<\/strong>
\nyet fallen off completely. Would the plant benefit from feeding? I have a<\/strong>
\nMiracle-Gro hose-dispenser and bottled feed which is sprayed at 30:1<\/strong>
\ndilution. Would this help the plant, which may be weakened by early<\/strong>
\nblooming? Would a later feeding help? I am afraid I’ll miss the<\/strong>
\nlate December blooms this year. Is that true?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is possible you have Viburnum<\/em> x bodnantense<\/em>. The cultivars ‘Dawn’<\/a> and
\n‘Charles Lamont’<\/a> bloom from late fall through early spring. Thus, the
\nblooms you are seeing are normal, not early, and they should continue
\nthrough the winter.
\nHere<\/a> is a link to a local growing guide from Rainyside Gardeners.<\/p>\n

I think that feeding your Viburnum with a synthetic chemical fertilizer
\nlike Miracle-Gro would not be a good idea. Miracle-Gro will supply more
\nnitrogen than your Viburnum wants, and you might actually encourage leafy
\ngrowth at the expense of flowers. All your plant really needs is mulching
\nwith good organic compost and occasional feeds of alfalfa, fish
\nfertilizer, or manure.<\/p>\n

Local garden writer Ann Lovejoy describes how to fertilize trees and
\nshrubs in spring and fall in her book The Handbook of Northwest Gardening<\/em>
\n(Sasquatch Books, 2004):<\/p>\n

“Spring feeds are generally fast-acting, offering rapidly growing plants the nitrogen they need… A feeding mulch of compost can be fortified
\nwith fast-acting alfalfa, which will release more nitrogen if used in
\ncombination with composted manures. Alfalfa comes in meal or pellets…<\/p>\n

“In fall, most plants stop producing fresh top growth… Fall is a good
\ntime to feed roots, which continue to stretch and grow underground
\ndespite low temperatures. Adding whole fish meal to your compost feeding
\nmulch will fortify growing roots with phosphorus…<\/p>\n

“In my own garden I rarely feed plants directly, preferring to feed the
\nsoil.”<\/p>\n

You may find the following comments<\/a> about Miracle-Gro<\/a> of interest. I hope this helps, and I hope your Viburnum keeps on flowering!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a Viburnum x bodnantense, or what looks a lot like one, and it is blooming already, although this year’s leaves have not yet fallen off completely. Would the plant benefit from feeding? I have a Miracle-Gro hose-dispenser and bottled feed which is sprayed at 30:1 dilution. Would this help the plant, which may be weakened by early blooming? Would a later feeding help? I am afraid I’ll miss the late December blooms this year. Is that true?  …<\/p>\n

Continue reading on feeding plants vs. feeding the soil<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[449],"class_list":["post-2780","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-viburnum"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/2780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}