Feeding Your Plants
The basics of nitrogen use in gardening. Nitrogen is an essential element of your gardens complex chemical activities. A steady stream of slow release nitrogen is always available if you have enough decomposted organic material in your landscape.

Posted Monday, January 16, 2006

Nitrogen is an essential element of your gardens complex chemical activities. A steady stream of slow release nitrogen is always available if you have enough decomposted organic material in your landscape.

I like to suppliment our plants in the spring with nitrogen.Most landscape plants use more nitrogen than other plant foods. Nitrogen is important to be available but don't use to much. To much nitrogen makes plants grow fast. Fast growing plants are not strong. Heavy amounts of nitrogen can also burn the plants and contaminate ground water resources.

If your plants are pale yellow, you probably need more nitrogen.If your plants are growing fast and producing lots and lots of leaves they might have to much nitrogen.

We recommend Osmocote fertillizer. It provides a constant supply of nutrients to existing landscape beds. We feel that ity is a great product to give the right nutrition for deeds,seedlings, and transplants. For new and established beds we like to use 3 tablespoons of Osmocote for each 2'x 2' area of garden, and work it into the top 1-3" of soil.When beds settle, add 1/2 teaspoon of osmocote mixed into the soil around the plant. A 3# package of Osmocote sells for around $12.00.

You can see more articles on tending nursery stock at http://www.seedlingsrus.com
About the Author

Bill Hirst writes about growing nursery stock. He has been raising plants for 45 years and has a nursery located in Doylestown Pa. 25 miles north of Philadelphia in Bucks County.