Larry, that is about the way I did it back then. I let the fertiliser drop right onto the rocks of the waterfall, so as it would mix in with the turbulence. As I said I did not notice any harmful effect to fish or flora in the pond. The waterfall rocks looked like brand new with the algae cover gone and that was the only noticeable change that occurred. Like your situation, the plants were growing well, lots of Water Hyacinths and Watercress to suck up the nutrients. The only two things I add now, are Muriate of Potash and some Chelated Iron, but I don't go overboard with those. The lilies get a few chunks of broken up shrub spikes once a month. That's it for fertilising. A side note about cleaning off waterfall rocks, is about the experiment our old friend David [DRH] did with Hydrogen Peroxide. He turned the water off to the waterfall and poured the HP over the rocks while they were still wet. The HP foamed up upon hitting the algae covered rocks, he then let it sit for a few minutes, then sprayed it with water from the hose. All trace of the algae was removed completely. Buyorsell888, your are so correct. That's why I would be reluctant to suggest to anyone that they arbitrarily go around pouring any old fertiliser into the pond. You don't know what you maybe adding that could cause harm to the fish etc. I remember at the time, all this discussion was going on, someone contacted the manufacturer of Miracle-Gro, about using their product in a pond. The answer back, was that they would NOT advise that it be used that way. Sandy, great explanation once again! "Horton"

I bought the first incarnation of the prebottled Miracle Gro, but I quickly found it to be too expensive (they get you coming in or going out, but they always get you). I lament over the phasing out of the old Miracle Gro hose end fertilizer dispenser. I used to unscrew the shower nozzle and hook up a hose that was attached to an oscillating sprinkler. It was great. I would mix up cheaper water soluble fertilizer with fish emulsion and sprinkler the whole yard with the stuff. It would stink up the whole neighborhood for a few hours but the benefits to the roses was great. I eventually stopped using this system because it was feeding the weeds better than the roses, and I don't invite enemies to my dinner table. I still use the a cheaper generic dispenser with my fertilizer/fish emulsion combo, but a spray it directly on the roses instead of everywhere. Good luck with this system and keep us posted.

You're right about the nitrate in the MG product that I'm using, Jay -- I'd forgotten that it's in there, but it doesn't really worry me given that it's a relatively small percentage overall. I'll admit that, in the past, I've even used Dynamite and Osmocote CRFs (both with a much higher percentage of nitrate) without any obvious detrimental effects. I switched to the Shake 'n Feed as a compromise. I don't like some aspects of it (high K and Ca, low N), but I like the fact that it provides a pretty good blend of micronutrients and provides most of its N in the forms of urea and ammonium. I hope to offset the low N with my soluble fertilizer applications -- usually a combo of 1/4 tsp each of Jack's Classic Acid and regular Miracle Gro every two to three weeks. I'm glad that I brought up Gertens product, fruitnut. I've almost bought it on more than one occasion but held off because of the lack of info.

This year's winter would account for all growth from the crown. I am in the same boat down -bloom wise- here with a couple of macs and one oakleaf. The extra fertilizer in high N MG Versions could also delay or prevent blooming if it was used for long enough that too much nitrogen has accumulated. The only way to know is to test the soil and check the levels of NPK (there are NPK soil tests that you could use to test and I would ck to see if N is high). But July is just starting so you could just wait and see if it still blooms in July but is simply delayed with all the "growingfromthecrownbusiness" that it is doing this year.