Subject: Re: Fertilizing a 100 years old sugar maple?
From: "Todd M. Bolton" <tmbolton@erols.com>
Organization: Todd Bolton Associates, Inc.
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 19:29:10 -0400
Message-ID: <MOD$970925.14740@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$970923.29264@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
dhs wrote:
>
> I have two sugar maples which are 100 years old in front of my house.
> Because of the road and a driveway, each tree has only roots under a
> quarter of its foliage. Despite that, they have survived. The foliage is
> not as dense as on a healthy tree, is it rather light in color, and the
> trees receive a lot of salt in the winter, as they are along the road. The
> town arborist suggests that I fertilize the trees. The way to do it is to
> make narrow holes in the soil (in order to not disturb the roots to much)
> and poor in some granular 10-6-4 with 50% organic matter, and water. I
> would like to use something organic, but obviousely, I cannot use manure in
> these small holes, and I cannot make much bigger holes. Is there an organic
> way to do this?
>
> Thanks for your help Lisa
The arborist is probably correct about nutrient needs of the trees, but
I would also have a soil test done. Often soil ph will limit hte amount
of Iron and trace minerals that the tree can get from the soil. In this
case adjusting the ph, through the addition of lime to make it less
acidic,(the more common problem) or (is it?) aluminum sulfide to lower
the ph may make these minerals available to the tree. The arborist
should be able to tell you where to get a soil analysis done.