How often should I fertilize my plants? - Ward's Nursery & Garden Center (2024)

How often you fertilize depends on what needs fertilizing and which fertilizer you are using. If you fertilize fruit trees with formulations made specifically for them, do it once a year in spring. When fertilizing a natural grass lawn, apply the fertilizer twice a year -in April and again in September. (Some people even do it three times per year, adding fertilizer in mid-summer). Vegetable gardeners can fertilize their garden beds about once a month with a quick-release fertilizer or about once a season with a slow-release fertilizer.

Some gardeners prefer to feed their flowers and plants with a liquid-soluble plant food once every one to two weeks.

Some plants are heavy feeders and require regular fertilizing to thrive, while others will happily grow and produce for years with little to know fertilizer. In fact, some plants will die if you fertilize them too often and increase the level of nitrogen in the soil higher than they can handle.

To fine-tune your fertilizing regimen– for enhanced blooms or higher food production, look up each type of plant to find the type of fertilizer and fertilizing schedule that works best for it.

Most gardens will grow beautifully if we mix compost into the soil before planting, side dress our plants with more compost every couple of months and use a natural, liquid-soluble plant food once or twice a month.