Will Miracle-Gro Work on All Outdoor Trees and Shrubs?

Plant Requirements

• For optimal growth, plants must have adequate amounts of 17 different nutrients. Some of these -- hydrogen, carbon and oxygen -- come from air and water. The plants must be able to find the others in the soil. These include large quantities of macronutrients: potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and phosphorous. Plants also use very small amounts of micronutrients, including chlorine, iron, zinc, manganese, boron, molybdenum, copper and cobalt. A good all-purpose fertilizer will supply all of these nutrients.

Using Miracle-Gro

• The best type of Miracle-Gro to use on outdoor trees and shrubs is Miracle-Gro All-Purpose Plant Food. This fertilizer has all of the different trace elements that plants need as well as the macronutrients that are essential to plant growth. This supplement is best applied in one of two ways. The first choice is to use the granular form spread around the plant's drip line, where it can soak down to the roots. The other option is to add Miracle-Gro in liquid form, applying it at the same time as the plants are watered. It will soak into the ground where it can be utilized by the plants.

Benefits to Plants

• Plants that are not able to get enough nutrients from the soil will benefit from having fertilizer added to the soil. Some signs that plants may need additional fertilizer are poor leaf size and discoloration, premature leaf drop and change in color and poor overall growth. In these cases the addition of fertilizer to the soil can help to restore plants to a strong, healthy condition.

Considerations

• As with any fertilizer product, the use of Miracle-Gro should be restricted to when the plants actually need to be fertilized. This depends primarily on the type of plant as well as the type of soil it is growing in. Over-fertilization can cause undesirable effects, including excessive growth that can lead to a higher risk of plant problems, such as susceptibility to disease and winter freezing. Excess fertilizer also runs off and causes problems in streams and lakes, including the over-growth of algae.