Seasonal Tips for Feb & Mar - Feeding
As the season progresses your plants will start to grow vigorously. This is when they need rich levels of nutrients to support and sustain their growth. Westland has formulated two types of plant food that will feed your garden plants. Choose to use Feed-all which does just that and includes a special version for ericaceous plants or the new natural range of plant foods created from natural plant extracts.
- If you are growing organically then it makes sense to choose a fertiliser that supports this choice. Nutri Plant Feed and Nutri Tomato Feed are made from natural, organic, renewable resources to promote healthy, strong plant growth. Unlike artificial feeds that force the plant to grow, Nutri is made from natural plant extracts that work in harmony with the plants natural systems to deliver complete plant health.
- For fast food applications and foliar feeding choose Feed-all Pour N’ Grow Plant Food, Feed-all Dilute N’ Grow Plant Food or Feed-all Soluble Plant Food. These all apply a liquid feed to your plants, which if applied to the foliage out of direct sunlight, will be taken into the plant leaves quickly. Liquid food that reaches the soil/compost the plants are growing in, will supply nutrients for uptake by the plant roots.
- Trees and shrubs will benefit from an early spring feed to support strong and healthy growth. Use Growmore Garden Plant Food for a general balanced feed, it’s granular so can be sprinkled around the base of your plants. Organic gardeners can opt for Fish, Blood & Bone All Purpose Plant Food or Bone Meal Root Builder; both are ideal for use all around the garden for established and new plants. Follow the instructions on the pack.
- For more targeted feeding choose a plant food specially formulated for your plants from the extensive Westland Garden Health range. For example Rose, Tree & Shrub Granular Plant Food is specially formulated for roses, trees and shrubs and is a particularly good choice for flowering shrubs. It’s designed to support healthy roses, encouraging plenty of rich green foliage and masses of wonderful flowers. It can also be used to feed trees. Rake in very lightly taking care not to damage the feeder roots that will be close to the soil surface.
- Toughen up existing roses and shrubs and help them to tolerate drought and disease by treating them to a tonic of Sulphate of Potash Fruit and Flower Food. This traditional formula is well known by experienced gardeners to encourage stems to ripen and mature and also to promote healthy growth and flower production.
- Feed permanent crops such as herbs, asparagus, rhubarb and fruit in early spring with Growmore Garden Plant Food.
- Containerised trees and shrubs should be fed using a suitable plant food such as Feed-all Slow Release Plant Food, choose the granular option for flexible feeding.
- Early spring bulbs will already have built their food reserves for this year’s display so delay feeding until they have finished flowering. This will help to boost the bulbs and help them build up food reserves for next years’ flowers.
- Feed the lawn when it spurts into its spring growth with Lawn Feed. Apply with a Lawn Spreader for fast and accurate application. Alternatively apply Aftercut Lawn Feed & Conditioner after mowing. Choose between the granular version available in a hand held spreader or the new Aftercut Liquid.
- Don’t be tempted to feed newly raised seedlings and cuttings until they get a bit bigger. If you use John Innes Seed Sowing Compost with Sure Start to grow seeds and cuttings, the compost contains everything your protégés need for the first few weeks of growth. The tiny roots and root hairs on these developing plants are very susceptible to scorching from fertilisers, so let them establish before treating them to your favourite plant food.
Other useful tips for this season:
