ADDRESSING THE UNIQUE REQUIREMENTS OF OLD TREES
Our program starts at the roots. Conventional practices make the mistake of using strong fertilizers, causing a tree to outgrow its environment. That is not a good plan! Mature trees rarely require fertilizer. The use of strong fertilizers can even reduce the lifespan of an urban tree. While it is true that a dose of fertilizer can make a tree look healthy, the wrong fertilizer balance will push too much growth and actually make the tree more dependent on water and nutrients.1 Our program develops vigorous roots and healthy growth without forcing a larger canopy size. The strategy is to make the tree self-sufficient.
You see, nearly every fertilizer on the market - including those marketed by retail stores - was actually designed for growing agricultural crops. Agricultural crops have a completely different nutritional requirement from trees and are formulated for maximum yield, not maximum health. A healthy tree develops natural relationships in the soil, so we believe that addressing soil health is the first step in caring for established trees.
CAN A HOMEOWNER FERTILIZE A LARGE TREE?
The limiting factor of a store-bought fertilizer, is the delivery method. You can even purchase biological stimulants at premium garden centers, but the problem comes when it is time to actually get those products to the right spot. Biological stimulants cannot be applied just by spreading it on the ground. The living components of biological stimulants will either die or get washed away before they ever get into the first inch of soil. Biological stimulants applied to the soil surface are a complete waste of money. To deliver living organisms to the soil, an injection system must be used. An injection system uses a high-volume of water as a carrier, applied under pressure beneath the soil surface.
A promising treatment known as biochar CAN be applied to the soil surface. But it can also be applied using the injection method as described above. The benefit of the injection method is that the biochar compounds can be delivered directly to the horizon of the soil where it needs to be.