5 Signs Your Northeast OH Trees and Shrubs Need Fertilization

Picture this: Your grass is green and lush, your yard is free of debris, your beds are manicured and mulched—and yet, one crucial piece is out of place. The trees and shrubs that would complete the picture are limp and shriveled. You’ve tried dousing them with extra water and kept an eye out for insects and pests, but nothing you do seems to bring them back to life.

What’s worse, those tired-looking trees and shrubs are all you can focus on when looking at your house, negating all the hard work you’ve done to boost your curb appeal and make your property shine.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. The trees and shrubs in your yard may just be undernourished. While plants “in the wild” may have plenty of nutrients to get by through the soil, it’s possible your property’s soil lacks nutrients due to various factors, such as high traffic, construction nearby, or other issues.

By adding nutrients to your plants through fertilization, you can enjoy stronger, healthier, and faster-growing plants with root systems that run deep. Plus, fertilization will help your plants weather storms, wind, and other environmental factors with ease, and it will also allow them to better soak in the water and nutrients that are available in the soil.

That’s where we at Turf Pride can step in to offer a fertilization treatment plan that will perk up your plants, encourage bright blooms and lush leaves, and ultimately bring the curb appeal back to your property.  

Top 5 Signs your Trees and Shrubs are Undernourished

Here’s how to determine if your trees and shrubs need fertilizing.

1. Drooping appearance

Wilting plants can signify that they are not getting enough nutrients.
If leaves have started to drop off of your plants, that may be an indication of a more severe nutrient deficiency.

2. Discolored leaves

If a plant’s green leaves turn a yellowish color in the summer, that’s a result of chlorosis, which means that the plants aren’t getting the nitrogen needed to keep the leaves green.  
A reddish-purple tint or brown spots near the edges of the leaves can also indicate a nourishment issue.

3. Weak stems

If your trees and shrubs look like they can’t support their own weight or if the stems appear thin and spindly, they could also need an extra boost from fertilization.  

4. Slow growth

Trees and shrubs don’t grow as quickly or as noticeably as grass does, but if you see that they haven’t grown at all or are growing more slowly than usual, it may be time for fertilization.

5. Reduced flowering

If you notice that your trees and shrubs aren’t outputting as many flowers or fruit as in past seasons, that may be another sign that they’re undernourished.

What Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs Involves

The technique for fertilizing trees and shrubs differs slightly. For fertilizing shrubs and delicate plants, our technicians use a battery-powered backpack sprayer that has an adjustable wand to appropriately spray delicate plant and large surface areas on shrubs. For fertilizing trees, our techs adjust the wand to a stream setting to reach up to 15 feet on trees.

Treatments also involve spraying tree trunks and plant bases using a soil drench technique so that the fertilizer can work down to the roots of the plants.

Just like every climate is different, so too should every fertilizer treatment be different. Our technicians are knowledgeable about the timing and amount of fertilizer required for our unique Northeast Ohio climate.

When to Fertilize Trees

Speaking of timing, when is the best time for fertilizing plants?

At Turf Pride, we offer fertilization services as part of an overarching plant heath care package that also includes pest control.

While we focus on pest control for trees and shrubs in the summer months, we fertilize the trees and shrubs once in the spring and once in the fall. Fertilizing during these seasons also ensures the plants don’t experience any extra stress because the temperatures are cooler and there is plenty of moisture available for them to take in.

Fall tree fertilization’s benefits run particularly deep.

As cooler temperatures hit in the fall and a plant’s systems start shutting down, all the energy in the plants gets focused into the root system rather than top growth. That’s why fall is a key time to fertilize your trees and shrubs. It does wonders to replenish the nutrients that the plant used up during the season.

On the other hand, spring fertilization focuses more on boosting the budding and flowering of the plants, strengthening them for summertime.

What To Do After Fertilization 

1. Allow fertilized trees and shrubs to dry

Because our technicians are applying fertilizer in the spring and fall when temperatures are cooler and there’s more rainfall, it may take longer for the applications to dry.
We ask that you stay inside or off the property for about two hours after we treat.

2. Continue watering plants based on their needs

The fertilizer is applied directly to the plants and absorbed through the leaves and twigs of the plants, so there’s nothing homeowners can do immediately to help that absorption along.

However, throughout the growing season, especially throughout the summer when rain is scarcer and temperatures in Northeast Ohio regularly reach into the 80s, you should continue to water your plants according to their needs.

The root systems of plants can dry out very quickly, so we recommend that you apply at least 1 to 2 inches of water weekly to the trees and shrubs to keep the root systems damp and the trees and shrubs healthy.

Top 4 Misconceptions About Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs 

You’ve likely heard a few misconceptions about fertilizing trees and shrubs. To put your mind at ease, we’ve taken the time to debunk these myths for you.  

1. Tree and shrub treatments are harmful

While it’s recommended that you, as the homeowner, stay away from the treated trees and shrubs for two hours following your technician’s visit, the fertilizer used is not toxic to your household. That window is recommended so that the fertilizer has enough time to dry and be effective. 

After that two-hour window, your kids and pets are free to play in the yard, and you’re set to enjoy your space all season long.

2. Results are immediate

With lawn fertilization and weed treatments, the results are often immediately noticeable, with weeds disappearing within days and grass becoming greener and lusher before your eyes.

With trees and shrubs, however, the results may not be as quick or obvious, but rest assured that the treatment is working—it just may be working underground in the root system, where you can’t see it.

In the spring, the results will be more noticeable, with plants popping out buds and greening up in no time.

Keep in mind that the effects of tree and shrub fertilization may also vary year over year depending on the weather. If it’s a particularly dry year in Northeast Ohio, it would make sense that the plants are a little more stressed out due to lack of water and therefore aren’t growing as quickly.

3. More fertilizer is better

It’s true that more fertilizer means that plants will grow more, but sometimes with fertilization, less is more. 

While this may seem counterintuitive, adding more fertilizer to a plant will only cause you to have to trim and prune it more, equating to more stress for the plant. This becomes especially true for plants close to your house or other structures in your yard as there is a limit to how big they should get. 

Plus, remember that plants do produce their own food, also known as chlorophyll. They make the chlorophyll through a process called photosynthesis in which they convert light into chemical energy in the form of sugars.

Our experts at Turf Pride keep all of this in mind, which is why we only perform fertilization services for our customers twice per year—once in the spring and once in the fall.  

4. More water is better

While it’s important that you supply your plants with at least 1 to 2 inches of water per week (provided it hasn’t rained much), there is such a thing as too much water.

For example, if you are watering your plants with a half-inch of water every single day, you may be contributing to root rot issues. If the soil doesn’t drain properly after you’ve watered, those roots may sit in wet soil for a long time, resulting in suffocation.

And once the root system starts to deteriorate, the rest of the plant will soon follow, and you will soon experience dropping leaves, dead branches, and overall weakening of the plant.

Reach Out to Make Your Plants Pop

If you’re done messing around with trying to get just the right amount of fertilizer on your trees and shrubs or if you’ve experienced subpar results from other providers, now is the time to give Turf Pride a call.
With our expert technicians providing services to homeowners in Mentor, Painesville, Willoughby, and nearby suburbs, our comprehensive plant health care plan will ensure your plants become stronger, healthier, and greener versions of themselves. Call today or request your free quote online to schedule your first visit and make your property pop.