Fertilising

Why fertilise in the first place?

How it works in nature:
The plant is at rest during winter - no growth.
Leaves and dead plant parts are broken down by ground dwelling insects, bacteria and such which enrich and fertilise the soil over the winter months.
The plant has new nutrients available to grow again.

How it works in your garden:
Plants draw nutrients from decomposed organic matter and from the minerals in the soil. In a domestic situation dead leaves and unsightly plant parts are usually removed and not left to decompose around the base of the plant. Often plants would not grow naturally in many of the soils and locations we put them in, or are not even native to the area. Insecticides and other human interference, even weeding for that matter, further reduces or even eliminates all that which normally would enrich the soil throughout the year, especially in winter. Thus the soil has little or nothing to create new nutrients with and this is why we need to fertilise all that which we don't leave entirely to its own devices, to help it grow!

Fertilising is therefore basically nothing other than giving your plants a "food supplement".

How to go about it

Fertilisers come in three forms:

1. Natural, such as compost or animal manure.
2. Slow release granules, such as All Purpose fertiliser, Osmocote or Nutricote.
3. Liquids, such as Phostrogen, Thrive or Nitrosol.

Trees, shrubs and roses:
Use All Purpose fertiliser which includes all the trace elements your plant needs. Sprinkle granules around the drip-line (that is where the feeder roots are) and water in well (or apply just before rain).

Lawns:
For lawns use a lawn fertiliser, high in nitrogen - which is your greening element - (e.g.. Brilliance). For newly laid lawns use a product called NU-Lawn (lower in nitrogen, will not burn young root growth)
Sprinkle granules over lawn according to instructions on the bag.

Gardenias:
Need an acidic fertiliser such as Camellia & Azalea Food.
Sprinkle around drip line and water in well.

Indoor plants and Ferns:
Use water soluble fertilisers such as Phostrogen or Thrive which are easily applied with a watering can.