As always with fertilization it depends on what the existing mineral content of the soil is - if there is a deficiency or not. And what, specifically is deficient. Otherwise a body is just assuming what they are doing is going to be adequate and beneficial. That it is going to hit the target.

Well, I was thinking that I never fertilize most of my shrubs. And I'd like to improve the soil. it is close to a Maple so it gets a generous mulch of leaves every year, but I'd just like to give it an extra boost. I'm just looking at the package and it has a 5-3-3 profile and has Feather Meal, Poultry Manure, Alfalfa Meal. I just noticed it has Microbes in it, which doesn't thrill me. I'd rather it didn't. And what about Compost, isn't that always worth adding?

I had a soil test a few years ago but I'm not sure if it was mainly for my vegetable beds. The mineral content was good but Nitrogen was low.

I think my main question was whether it was a good time to do it since I cut it back to the ground. Is it busy trying to regenerate and won't appreciate the fertilizer or just the opposite?

Generally, fertilizing will not improve the soil. Organic matter does that so mulching with leaves or with compost is going to improve your soil better than any fertilizer application. However the fertilizer you describe is derived from natural, aka 'organic' sources so it is considered organic matter as well, although not applied to same degree as a mulch would be and therefore will contribute proportionally less to any soil improvement.

Organically derived fertilizers impact the soil in a much different manner than do the synthetic or 'chemical' ferts. They require soil biology to convert them into a plant usable form, they are by nature slow release so minimal risk of overdoing or fertilizer burn and they carry a much lighter nutrient load than do the synthetics. A modest - according to the label directions - application after pruning won't hurt anything and you should see some robust growth this season as a result.

A couple of things to consider:

1) N is almost always read as deficient in soil tests (if read at al) as it is the single nutrient that is used in the greatest quantity by plants and it is also the most mobile. Its availability will fluctuate with weather, time of day, air temperature and even sunlight.

2) Using compost or leaf mold to mulch your planting areas on a regular basis will often eliminate any need for additional fertilization, While neither are considered fertilizers per se, they do release nutrients as they continue to breakdown or decompose and that is typically sufficient to replenish any nutes that may be deficient, primarily N.

3) Adding microbes, probiotics (essentially just another name for the microbes) or mycorrhizal fungi to organic fertilizer mixes and/or soil mixes is becoming more and more common. Almost a standard industry practice :-) Not sure the need or the benefit of doing so has been adequately documented - they pretty much exist independently anyway in any decent soil - but they sure won't hurt anything. No need to be concerned about them.

And what people fail to realize, is that fertilizer intake is directly related to leaf transpiration. There's absolutely no point in fertilizing a plant that has no leaves.

otherwise healthy .... and with no insult to the root mass ... this thing should return with a vengeance ... and you will probably be beating it back with a stick or a truck in a year or two ... if you do nothing ..

a little of this or that rarely hurts anything .. properly applied ..

but dont think it needs anything special.. i mean really .. its been there how long ??? ... and gotten how big ..???

not to mention... if you fert under a maple.. i can assure your that its aggressive root mass will come and steal everything you think you are giving to the other plant ...

if its gotten leggy over the years.. its probably because.. as the tree grew.. its might not be in the full sun it would prefer ...

imo.. waste of money .. but if you have some around for other purposes.. knock yourself out.. short of dumping half a bag around it ...

ken

GG, I would argue that's residual fertilizer effect (like a slow release). And yes, it is a transient state of affairs, but the bulk will probably be lost to rain and continue to intensify problems like nitrification in the water cycle. I would argue (w/o facts) that it is probably better to use lower doses more frequently when the plant is in active growth.

Since what the OP is applying is an organically sourced fertilizer, there is really no concern about it leaching away or nitrification. And the impact of any dry organic fertilizer is not going to be immediate anyway. It takes time for the mineralization required of the soil biology to take effect so a lag time exists between application and availability. They are by nature slow release :-)

Quite an interesting discussion. Thanks. And yes, the shrub has gotten leggy due to the encroaching canopy of the Maple It's planted right at the drip line. I'm always looking for something to grow around my Maple tree and lots of thing just don't work. I've been happy that Clethra seems to have managed.

And I'd have to agree that the Maple tree sucks a lot of the moisture and the nutrition away from the shrubs, so I supposed adding some fertilizer helps both the tree and hopefully the shrubs will get some of it.

Lol, I have the opinion that large maples are simply evil (as much as I love the sugar maple and it's southern kin) as far as being nice gardening companions.

dbarron, I can't disagree. lol My neighbor's have Silver Maples which seem to be the worst at traveling distances to invade my raised vegetable beds and I have a long list of plant material that has not prospered in beds adjacent to them. I don't even get the bright colors of a Sugar Maple to balance things out! One of my neighbors had a gorgeous Sugar Maple that I could see out my window when I moved in and they cut it down to put a pool in, that they don't even use. [g]

Yes, just barely before those whirling helicopters of disaster come flying in for THIS year, I'm still eradicating where I see seedlings opening leaves from last year.

Curses of sterility be on all silver maples. Curses of falling apart (oh..yeah that always happens)!

Yes, you have to really look under all the shrubs to make sure there are no Maple seedlings. I had one grow up in a shrub and by the time I noticed it, I decided to just let it go, the shrub was ruined at that point so I dug that out and left the tree, which is now higher than my house. That was the last time I forgot to look in my shrubs for seedlings. [g]