Likely that you don't need fertilizer for the things. Nor for most other ornamantal woodies.

In many soil, fertilizer for woodies is a sales gimmick that really works well. But then you have to prune your brains out to keep up with the galloping growth.

Don't bother. They'll be fine.

Dan

Woah there horsey. You just planted them 4 weeks ago. Give them a chance to get established!

Actually, according to Dr Carl Whitcomb, fertilizer can help a lot but he's talking about plants grown in rootmaker containers. Probably doesn't help much for the ones grown in smooth sided container that causes circling roots slowing down establishment significantly. Basically whenever you fertilize lawn, shrubs and trees get them anyway (as long as they're properly watered deeply every once in a while).

I fertilize my trees when they're planted... with organic fertilizer such as hydrolyzed fish fertilizer. Usually, it's nitrogen that is lacking in the soil for maximum growth...

Actually, according to Dr Carl Whitcomb...smooth sided container...circling roots..."

Huh?

Anyways, as previously stated, no need to fertilize, especially at this point.

PROPER MULCH AND PROPER WATER IS ALL THEY NEED ...

PERIOD.. PARAGRAPH ....

do NOT confuse what is done in pot culture with what is done in mother earth ...

IMHO.. osmacote was developed for the potted nursery trade ...

no matter what snake oil they offer .. its use in mother earth is expensive and just plain wrong ... and if you get the wrong release formula ... you may be feeding your plants well into the hardening off period in late fall .. which will kill the plant ...

insert finger.. insure proper moisture.. and then WALK AWAY.. do NOT kill them with TOO MUCH LOVE

ken

Osmokote is a slow release non burning fertilizer which does wonders for the the Thuja Plicata 'Green Giants' and its more recently marketed 'Steeplechase' sport cultivar.

In my area better nurseries and local box stores like Lowes and Home Depot sale the Osmokote granuals.

Osmokote works so well for the Green Giants, because Green Giants put up a thin shoot of growth in the spring and again in the fall, at which times the tree takes a while to fill in, unless it gets the help of the non-burning Osmokote type of fertilizers.

Most trees, which do not have the potential to grow as fast a 'Green Giants,' usually do produce enough food for themselves from the sun exposure on their leaves.

I usually do not fertilize my trees for this very reason, and at first I only used the Osmokote in the planting hole when I planted my Thuja plicata 'Green Giants.' three years ago, and they did grow and survive, but by the second year I realized they needed the Osmokote for quicker and better filling in at the top where they had most recently sent up new growth.

I ended up using the Osmokote because I had first planted only 1 foot tall, three gallon sized potted trees; which I wanted to quickly grow large and taller than the neighbor's crumbling privacy fence that I wanted to screen.

Now that the trees are filled out nicely and are about 12 feet tall, I no longer care how fast they grow, so do not fertilize them any more, and they seem to be doing just fine.

Maybe early on I encountered this issue, due to the large amount of builder's sand, on top of which the builder evidently had just covered with a few inches of better top soil, instead of first removing the excess sand from that area.

Wouldn't Whitcombs' recommendation to use fert. be based on the fact that containerized trees are typically grown in soilless mixes, which provide no nutrients on their own? Most soils on the other hand, even what is left after modern construction, are not completely devoid of N-P-K and trace nutes. This seems most likely the point here.

+oM

Any sandy soil that is not in a bowl type elevation with a clay base, creates situations that allow the rapid moisture drainage to wash away the plants' and trees' needed soil nutrients.

Even though mixing Humus into sandy soil is the best solution, sprinkling the suggested rates of the slow release Osmokote on top of the sand, over the root system area of trees or plants also serves the plants and trees well; by a steady slow release of nutrients into the soil as the quicky draining moisture consistantly flushes those nutrients over the roots.