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Why Should you fertilize a tree?


Your trees and shrubs are important for so many reasons. They provide shade and beauty, offer privacy, and help keep your home cool in the summer. They also provide a habitat for birds and other animals, help clean the air and water, and can even help reduce your energy bills. But did you know that trees and shrubs also provide crucial ecological services, such as erosion control and water filtration?


Your lawn and trees are the foundation for your landscape, providing privacy, shade and beauty. Just like people, trees and shrubs need nutrients and water to stay healthy and strong. Fertilizing your trees and shrubs is one of the easiest ways to improve the look and health of your landscape. Spring is the best time to fertilize trees and shrubs, as it gives them the nutrients they need to grow strong, green leaves.


Fertilizing your trees and shrubs can help them stay healthy and grow better. The best time to fertilize is when they’re still growing, usually in the spring. When a tree is young, it needs extra nutrients to help it grow and become strong. If you don't give it the right amount and the right kind of nutrients, it won't be able to grow the way it should. This can lead to weak or dieing branches and leaves.


Fertilizing your trees can boost their performance and health, help them grow faster, and help them live longer. It can even help your trees resist pests and disease. Fertilizing your trees is a simple way to help them grow and thrive, and it's something you should definitely consider.

If you've ever cut a pine tree or a spruce tree, you know how dense and full their branches are. They're loaded with foliage, and it takes a lot of energy for them to grow and produce all that foliage. Fertilizing a tree is one of the best ways to encourage rapid growth and height increase, particularly in spruce and pine. It's also one of the best ways to improve the aesthetics of your yard, since it'll allow you to fill in bare spots on your trees or to shade large areas.

Fertilizing a tree is a great way to promote strong, healthy growth and prevent disease and insects from weakening the tree. Fertilizer can also promote new growth on branches that are damaged or diseased, which can help rejuvenate the tree. Fertilizer can also help trees recover faster from damage caused by pests and disease.

Fertilizing your trees can help them grow taller, stronger and produce larger, healthier leaves. It can also help them survive long periods of drought, pests and disease. Most importantly, fertilizing your trees helps them produce the oxygen we need to live and thrive. That’s why it’s important to fertilize your trees!

Ok, I know you get it…You should fertilize your trees and shrubs!!! Now what do you fertilize with??? Contact us today to schedule your fertilization program.

Fertilizing trees with synthetic fertilizers doesn't provide the nutrients your trees need to thrive. However, organic fertilizers provide all the nutrients your tree needs. Say What?

Organic fertilizer is made from natural ingredients and processes. Synthetic fertilizers are made from chemicals, and are often made from petrochemical products and are not as effective as organic fertilizers.

We never use harsh synthetic chemicals as they can damage a healthy soil ecology (costly and harmful)! Trees, shrubs, and plants have to manipulate the way they up-take synthetic chemicals. The problem is that they suffer when synthetic chemicals become unavailable.

Because synthetics don't reproduce naturally, they will only last a short time and will need to be continually replaced. This leads to an unbalanced and unhealthy soil. Trees then have to revert back to natural ingredients that are still available for them to survive, which is difficult because the energy required during this process has been depleted.


Instead, we treat with all natural ingredients such as seaweed, fish emulsion, bat guano, and other micronutrients. Thus balancing out the soil, creating a happy and healthy landscape allowing them to thrive!

Get the results your trees, shrubs, and plants deserve!


Trees on your property should have fertilizer applied to them since you want them to thrive. In a natural forest setting, trees would readily receive nutrients from the soil, which are not readily available in suburban soil. Despite knowing your trees could benefit from fertilization to increase their vigor and health, you are uncertain as to which method is best.


To save money, some people consider performing tree fertilization on their own. However, the effectiveness of DIY methods is often questioned. Furthermore, if you do choose a tree fertilizing company, you want to know that you have picked the right professional. Choosing the right care for your trees has a huge impact on their health.

Tree Fertilization Cost

Cost is the main reason why homeowners may attempt tree fertilization themselves. You can pick up tree fertilizer spikes from a big box store for an extremely low price. In general, tree spikes are sold in multipacks for $1 to $2 each. Depending on the brand, you may need to use more or fewer spikes. According to one brand, one spike should be used for every inch of tree trunk diameter.


Comparatively, a tree fertilizing service provided by a professional company will cost more. TreeMedics charges between $100 and $350 for this service, though it may be higher. More product is used, and the cost increases with the size of the trees.


It's a huge difference, so you need to ask yourself: What do I get for my investment? To determine the best course of action, you should examine the differences between DIY tree fertilization and professional services.

DIY vs. Professional Tree Fertilization Service

In comparing what you get for your investment, it's important to recognize that apples are not apples. You can pick up DIY tree spikes at a box store that contain quick-release fertilizer that is quickly depleted. However, the biggest problem with them is how much product they contain and deliver to the tree. Compared to what a professional uses, it's extremely minimal.


We use concentrated organic materials equal to five gallons of liquid tree fertilizer per inch of tree diameter at TreeMedics, for example. A professional grade, slow release product will also be applied, which will allow for consistent root growth. In contrast to tree spikes, it isn't used up immediately. Instead, it will slowly release over the next year, so your trees will benefit all throughout that time.


Another big difference is the method of application. DIY tree spikes only go a short distance into the soil, whereas a professional tree fertilization service will include a root drench or injection that delivers organic suspended fertilizer deep into the soil to the roots, where it is most needed. A process called translocation then distributes the fertilizer throughout the tree.

Using a Professional Tree Fertilizing Company

It's time to be brutally honest. Your trees don't benefit much from tree spikes. The features we've discussed: their shallow application, the quality of the product, and their quick release nature, all combine to create a product that does very little for the health of your trees.


If you want to give your trees the best care, you probably need to hire a tree fertilizing company. To find the best tree fertilizing company in Tualatin, Sherwood, or the greater Portland Metro Area, look for a company that understands trees. Several lawn care companies and even tree companies offer tree fertilization services without understanding when or why they're needed.


An experienced company will examine all of your trees in a consultation. There will not be a one-size-fits-all approach to tree fertilization. The truth is, lots of homeowners and even lawn care or tree companies believe that fertilizing trees will fix everything, but fertilizer can actually make things worse if you have a diseased tree or if you have insects.


Professional arborists consider factors such as the rate of annual growth, the structure of the soil, and the root space available. Before adding a tree fertilization service, they will consider the leaf color and size to determine the growth rate. There is a general growth rate for all trees. In most cases, when a tree has undersized leaves and twig growth, it means the root system is not functioning properly. By providing tree fertilizer to the roots, this problem can be corrected.


If the company you're considering for your tree fertilization service doesn't account for those factors, chances are they don't know much about trees. The approach a Certified Arborist takes to fertilizing trees differs greatly from that of a novice technician.

Choosing Wisely for the Health of Your Trees

In the end, it is your choice, not only about what company you intend to hire, but also what services you follow through with that will determine how successful your trees are. Fertilization products and their application are not alike, nor are they applied in the same way. Choosing wisely is therefore essential.


It's a good thing that you're considering your options because you are concerned about the health of your trees. We know that it can be difficult to determine what your trees need in order to thrive, and that's why we're here to help. Companies that are just looking to fertilize as many trees as they can and those that truly understand trees and what they need are two very different things. Our belief is that to be effective, you must focus on fertilizing trees properly. A job well done is worth doing, or not at all.


If you’d like to find out more about organic tree fertilization services for your Tualatin, Sherwood, or greater Portland home, contact us for a free consultation or give us a call at 503-683-2003 so we can answer any of your questions.


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