Feeding Guide
For the very best results in your garden it is essential to feed your plants. You’ll be simply amazed at how much better they’ll grow and thrilled at the increase in flowers and garden vegetables you’ll be able to enjoy all season.
One of the biggest mistakes that gardeners make is to scrimp on plant food. Usually it’s because their garden seems to grow quite well without them. That’s a bit like saying you could live on a diet of bread and cheese, yes perhaps you could for a while, but you would never thrive on it and it wouldn’t provide you with all the essential nutrients needed for your health. Don’t treat your plants to a life of just surviving.
There are two excellent ways to feed your plants properly. For the very best results you need to use both methods; feed the soil and feed the plants.
Feed the soil
The first involves improving or feeding the soil itself. This is vital to enhance the growing environment for plant roots. Good plant growth is dependent on healthy roots and healthy roots are totally dependent on healthy soil. One sign of a healthy soil is increased work activity. A soil rich in organic matter provides food for beneficial soil organisms such as worms, which in turn work their magic by mixing and improving the soil. The best way to improve a soil is to dig in plenty of rich organic matter. Use Premium Garden Soil and/or organic Farmyard Manure. Dig these in thoroughly, breaking up any large clods of clay. If you have very sandy soil that is quickly leached of nutrients then the more soil conditioner you can add the better. Mix it into bare soil or use it as a top dressing around existing plants. For clay soil it can be hard work digging organic matter into the topsoil. Do it gradually. When planting new plants use plenty of planting compost in the hole and back fill with plenty more mixing it into the soil to create a gradual change from compost to soil in the vicinity of the roots. Chop up large clumps of clay and leave it on the soil surface to be baked by the sun, it can then be crumbled and mixed with organic Farmyard Manure. Dig the garden in late autumn and leave the clods of clay for the frost to break up.
Feed the plants
Even though your garden plants may appear to be growing adequately, unless you have kept them well fed they are unlikely to achieve their full potential. Garden soil is quickly depleted of vital nutrients and heavy rain leeches food from the soil. To ensure that you get the best from every plant in the garden it is important to feed them too. It’s not complicated, costly or difficult to do.
Plants are unique because they can make their own nutrients in their leaves. They use sunlight and the green chlorophyll within the leaves to turn carbon dioxide into a plant food and oxygen via a process called photosynthesis. This helps to support plant growth, but plants need much more than this to perform to their full potential. Top-up your plant’s reserves by using a dedicated plant food. To make it even easier, the GardenHealth experts at Westland have formulated a range of quality plant foods to feed most of your garden plants. Choose the new naturally based Nutri Feed range that’s designed to work with nature. It’s made from natural plant extracts that work in harmony with the plants’ natural systems to deliver complete plant health. It’s designed to stimulate photosynthesis and enhance root growth too. There’s a special formulation for tomato plants, Nutri Tomato Feed.
Alternatively opt for the aptly named range of Feed-all Plant Food. It’s available in a variety of formulations to suit the users needs as well as the plants. In order to cater for specialist plant needs, such as acid loving plants, tomatoes or even the lawn, there are also more targeted feeds suitable for specific purposes.
Click on a link below to learn more about the comprehensive range of Westland Plant foods. Or use the link to our the seasonal tips section for more advice on what plant food to use now, Seaonal Tips - Feeding.
Feed-all Slow Release Granular
Feed-all Slow Release Tablets
Feed-all Soluble Plant Food
Indoor Plant Food Pour n Grow
Nutri Plant Feed
Nutri Tomato Feed
organic Chicken Manure Pellets
Rhododendron, Azalea & Camellia Dilute n Grow
Rhododendron, Azalea & Camellia Granular
Rose, Tree & Shrub Granular
Traditional Plant Food (Straights)
Bonemeal Root Builder
Epsom Salts Foliage Booster
Fish, Blood & Bone All Plant Booster
Garden Lime Soil Improver
Growmore Garden Plant Food
Sulphate of Ammonia Vegetable Food
Sulphate of Iron Ericaceous Plant Food
Sulphate of Potash Fruit and Flower Booster
Superphosphate Fruit & Vegetable Food
Nitty Gritty
On every pack of Westland plant food you will find an NPK rating. This is the level of nutrients within the feed and varies according to the type of plant food and the plants it is formulated for.
So when you are feeding plants being grown for their flowers or plants that develop fruit and vegetables after flowering such as tomatoes, beans and courgettes you need to choose a plant food high in Potash (K). You can either use the easy to understand product names to guide you and then check your choice on the information on the pack, or check each pack individually. For things like tomatoes it’s easy you can opt for the new Nutri Tomato Feed which can also be used to feed peppers, aubergines and other ‘fruiting’ plants.
For plants that rely on good foliage displays such as hostas, Heucheras, spinach and lettuce you need a plant food higher in Nitrogen (N), and for those that need root growth supporting you need to look for strong levels of Phosphate (P). This makes up the NPK rating and once you understand the basics you can actually start to understand what you are using.
Experienced gardeners know that plants also need essential trace elements and will look for plant foods that replenish those that have been lost from the soil or compost. Many plant foods contain essential minerals and trace elements and details can be found on the packaging.
