You have to be careful with P applications anyway. Many soils do not need them and if you go overboard then you basically have to replace the soil to get rid of the buildup. So you should sample your soil and have it tested to see if you need to keep adding P. Maybe you don't.

yes ..... guessing that you need some remedy.. is a good start on failure ... ken

Well I will test for sure. I was looking at how to do that last night. So don't assume I won't.

But lets just say that the other shrubs need a general fertilizer...for instance my Loropetalum often need balanced slow release fertilizer...are most fertilizers too phosphorus rich? Or do I need to somehow be careful where I put the general fertilizer and get the Grevillea it's own fertilizer? Just wondering how that works if you mix the Grevillea in with other shrubs. That's all. I know there has got to be a trick...you guys always have tricks.

My Loropetalum definitely need fertilizer of some kind. That's why I'm asking. I have a Grevillea doing GREAT in one corner farther from my Loropetalum. But I'd like to repeat the Grevillea again close to the Loropetalum and am wondering how this might work. Maybe my Loropetalum would do just fine with fertilizer that also does not have phosphorus? I know I should still test the soil.

Why do you say that your Loropetalum need fertilizer? I've had some for 20 years that I've never fertilized. What characteristics do they exhibit that suggest that they need fertilizer? You may have poor soil, which the Loropetalum would not like, but the Grevillea would be right at home in.

Because two of them have funny colored leaves. I emailed the supplier/grower and he said to fertilize. Of course I will test my soil this week to see what kind.

How about showing us photos of these 'funny coloured leaves?' Shrubs shouldn't need fertilising as a matter of course.

It depends more on the mineral content of the soil on a given site than what categories of plants are being attempted. Trees and shrubs will need to be fertilized just the same as herbaceous plants if a soil is deficient - look at all the fertilizer particles that trees and shrubs often have on top of the potting medium or root balls when you bring them home from retail outlets. In fact woody plants are really herbaceous plants with a woody foundation - the newest branch ends are like little individual herbaceous plants, all the more apparently when still comparatively young and soft.

But doesn't most everything in containers require some fertilizer?

Balled in burlap stock can also be seen at outlets with fertilizer on top of the burlap. Or sawdust. Point being growers often use fertilizer, the basis for doing this does not disappear when plants end up being bought and planted by end consumers. Many trees and shrubs in plantings in my area have obvious chronic nutrient deficiencies, mostly likely nitrogen under our conditions.

Here the soil is almost never lacking nitrogen. I have honestly never fertilized anything other than roses or citrus, and everything that I plant has time release fertilizer in the planting mix - you can see the little granules. My impression was that once the plant was in the ground, in soil that had sufficient mineral content (as opposed to the planting mix that is heavy on bark and perlite, etc), they cease to need external nourishment. That, at least, has been my experience.