TIL that consistent deep root feeding for 3 years brought back a client's sugar maple from almost no fall color to a full red canopy.

We started a program with a slow-release fertilizer and proper watering after a soil test showed it was starved for potassium, and seeing it blaze red this October after those pale years was a real win, so what's your go-to method for a stressed mature tree that just needs a nutritional boost?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamiesingh21d ago

Honestly, that sounds like a ton of work for just color. Sometimes a tree's just getting old and you gotta let nature run its course.

ross.angela21d ago

Let nature run its course" is a nice thought, but it ignores the part where we planted the tree in compacted urban soil to begin with. If a soil test shows a specific lack, is it really "a ton of work" to fix the problem we probably caused? What's your cutoff for when a tree is just old versus when it's starving because of its environment?

jason_robinson9d ago

Yeah, I read something about how city trees basically live in a concrete box. If we made the box, seems fair to at least check if it's empty.