I just found out that my zone is 8, not 7.
Patrick

If you fertilize, do so in the spring, right after the leaves are fully expanded.

trees.. NEVER need fertilizer .... unless a soil test shows that the soil is lacking in something necessary ....

if you fertilize your lawn .. any tree of size ... has roots in the lawn ... and will get what it needs ...

IMHO .. you stand a greater chance of harming your tree with fertilizer.. than you do not fert'g it ...

it is a tree.. not a child.. nor a grandchild... it does NOT need to be fed ....

except for water in drought.... through perhaps next year.. your trees should be getting close to free range...

do NOT kill them.. with too much love....

ken

there is nothing wrong with fertilizing your trees,but if you are fertilizing your yard than your trees are also. but this is wrong time to do so wait till the trees go dormant. In Oct or Nov

In the vast majority of cases, fertilizing trees does more good for the fertilizer company's profit margins than it does for the trees.

Trees in its natural environmental will always outgrow trees in the artificial environmental (yards, etc). We're talking about massive nutrient cycling in natural places but barely nothing in yards, etc. You will have to read Dr. Carl Whitcomb's research of a couple decades over this subject.

I think the best time to fertilize is after first freeze and a couple weeks after spring growth ( to avoid late freezes).

It is always nitrogen that is lacking and we don't usually need extra P and K unless it is very sandy soil. Nitrogen is what helps trees grow. In any case I would focus on 4-1-2 (such as 16-4-8) or 3-1-2 (12-4-8) at the most. If your soil test shows enough P and k, you only need to supply fertilizer that is mostly in nitrogen. If you fertilize the lawn, that's usually enough. No need to do any more than that.

Maximum growth would only work if you water on consistent basis such as during the summer if you hit a dry spell, etc.

Also MULCH! It makes a huge difference.... You would need 5-7 feet circle of mulch around the tree so the tree can get all the nutrients it needs instead of grass robbing them away from the tree. I am a big believer in having large area of mulch. If you're not willing to provide mulch then fertilizer won't do anything except feed grass.

Mulch is probably the best thing you can possibly do for your tree. It can significantly improve soil moisture retention, cut down or eliminate root competition from grass and weeds, improve soil fertility and soil texture as it breaks down, help to minimize soil temperature fluctuations, eliminate damage to the trunk from mowers and trimmers, and help to improve the looks of your lawn. A layer of about 3" to 4" (depending on the type of mulch you use), as wide as you can reasonably justify around your tree, and with a gap right next to the trunk so that the mulch isn't built up immediately next to the trunk is a good thing.