I don't. Even if the soil I repot a plant in doesn't say it has food in it, I still don't feed it to give the plant time to settle in and use up the nutrients that are already in the soil.

Rockland county NY, last year I did it on 11/21. Basically you want the late fall fertilizer to come after the grass has nearly stopped growing so that the fertilzer works into the ground over the winter freeze/unfreeze phase and is there for the roots in the spring. Sound right folks?

Quote from Cynthia's roses, "What is this fertilizer you speak of??" Seriously, I made an unusual effort this year and fertilized them all once in the spring, though I didn't notice any particular difference from last year. Every year I pull out the liquid fertilizer and swear I'm going to top up at least the wimpy roses later in the spring and summer with a weak solution, and every year the bottles get rained on and that's about it. At least by fall I have the excuse not to bother. I agree in principle with not fertilizing in the last 6-8 weeks before the first hard frost, but I've hardly put that to the test even remotely any year. By Halloween however I'll probably go put away those extra bags of fertilizer and Ironite that have been sitting on my front porch since April. I think that counts as fertilizer work, right? Cynthia

Its amazing what you are sure you will remember, but then quickly forget. So I take pictures and videos with my iPhone of anything unusual I see in the orchard - first I take a picture of the tree tag, then the tree and then the event I’m recording - such as first leaves, bloom, insect infestation, bark cankers, disease indications, etc. I also do periodic sets of pictures of all of my trees on the same day (such as Early September to gauge growth and general foliage disease condition). I find it’s faster and easier than taking notes in the field - no paper to get wet, pencil to get lost, I always have my iPhone, and with videos you can narrate to yourself what you are seeing. I write up general notes at the end of the year. I do the same in the garden...