How to Fertilize Waterfall Maple

Wait to fertilize until the second season after transplanting your Waterfall maple, to avoid burning tender new roots. The young tree should be fully acclimated to its new environment and ready to grow.

Choose suitable fertilizers. Mendocino Maples Nursery recommends an organic fertilizer with a nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium content of 4-8-5. Any slow-release acid fertilizer of the same general nutrient proportions is fine. Especially when trees are young and roots are very delicate, avoid any fertilizer with high nitrogen levels.

Fertilize in late spring, after the Waterfall maple has new leaves. Apply a light application of granular organic or slow-release acid fertilizer. Work it lightly into the soil’s surface, to avoid damaging tender surface roots. Water well afterward.

Use half-strength water-soluble acid fertilizer, organic or inorganic, alternatively. Fertilizers dissolved in water are easy to apply, and you don’t have to disturb the soil when you use them. Just be sure the soil is thoroughly moist before you apply fertilizer solution, and use half the recommended amount.

Fertilize trees growing in a container or poor-quality soil again in late summer. Whether you use granular or water-soluble fertilizers, remember to use half the usual amount.

Work compost into your soil before planting and also apply it as a regular topdressing to continually enrich your soil with organic matter. Mulch your Waterfall maples, too, to conserve soil moisture and also slowly enrich the soil. Several inches of organic mulch also help protect the tree’s tender surface roots.