Don’t Forget to Fertilize These Plants in April – For Bountiful Displays and Bigger Blooms

Fertilizing in April is one of the most helpful things you can do for plants. As spring is a time of rapid growth across the garden, feeding plants gives trees, shrubs, and perennials a beneficial boost at a key time in the season.

Shrubs, perennials, fruits, and container plants will thank you for providing them with that vital dose of nutrients by fertilizing this month. It’ll help them grow strongly and have the energy to produce foliage and flowers in the coming weeks and months. Your TLC is more than repaid with a stunning display.

There is no denying how important fertilizing is in April – it needs to be near the top of any spring gardening checklist if you want beds and pots brimming with beautiful blooms this year. Here we look at some of the most important plants to fertilize in April, and reveal the feeds to use to guarantee the best results.

1. Roses

Growing roses remains globally popular, and feeding plants guarantees the best display of those sought-after blooms.

In most climates, they will have started developing new growth for the season ahead. After they wake from their winter slumber is a perfect time to fertilize roses and give them a dose of essential nutrients for strong spring growth and to produce flowers.

These hungry plants always want feeding in spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer once they start to grow again. A product like this Espoma organic rose-tone food at Walmart is ideal for the job and will give you healthy shrubs and bigger blooms come summer.

Apply the product to the soil around the drip line and gently work it into the top inch of soil before watering well. Avoid the fertilizer coming into contact with the woody stems.

2. Shrubs

Flowering shrubs need annual feeding to perform at their best. As deciduous shrubs start to leaf out for the new season, they are hungry for nutrients to guarantee healthy growth and strong flowering.

At this stage in their annual cycle, fertilize shrubs with a slow-release fertilizer that contains the primary nutrients needed for strong plant growth.

A rounded NPK ratio means the feed has a good mix of nitrogen for strong foliage, phosphorus to stimulate the production of blooms, and potassium for healthy roots.

If you worry about potentially over-feeding shrubs, these tree and shrub fertilizer spikes at Amazon are pre-formulated to feed shrubs and simply need to be hammered into the soil near the plants in spring.

Plus, if your shrubs prefer acidic soils, like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, and Japanese maples, use a feed specifically for such plants instead, like this acid mix at Amazon.

3. Evergreens

Evergreen shrubs also produce new foliage in spring and require a valuable dose of nutrients. However, they prefer a slightly different type of fertilizer at this time of year.

Firstly, they only require a light feeding. Indeed, unless the shrub shows signs of slow growth, yellow leaves, or ill health, it may not need fertilizing at all in spring. Evergreens in healthy, fertile soil types may not need feeding every year, but will benefit from an application of spring fertilizer at times, and April is an ideal window for this.

A suitable fertilizer for evergreen shrubs is higher in nitrogen to boost strong foliage growth. You can use high-nitrogen products like chicken manure pellets (you can get organic chicken manure plant food at Walmart), or a product formulated especially for evergreens, such as this Evergreen-tone plant food at Amazon.

4. Fruit

Fruit trees and bushes are bursting into new growth in spring and want lots of nutrients to leaf out, flower profusely, and provide you with a bumper harvest of fruits.

There is a sweet spot between the buds breaking and the flowers opening to fertilize fruit trees and guarantee yourself a great crop.

You can see this guide to fruit trees to fertilize in April for specific advice on groups of trees you may have in your yard.

As for a quick overview of how to fertilize fruit trees this month, they want a product with a balanced NPK ratio, such as this 10-10-10 slow-release fertilizer from Amazon. Spread it around the area under the tree as wide as the canopy and water it into the soil.

If you are growing fruit bushes, such as berries and currants, they also need feeding in early spring to get them on the right track to a great harvest. A balanced feed is ideal, except if you are growing blueberries, as they prefer acidic soil and want a feed for acid-loving plants.

You can get a specially formulated liquid blueberry fertilizer at Amazon

5. Perennials

Many gardeners are likely to see the first shoots of perennial plants in their flower beds appearing in April.

Once the plants start actively growing in spring is a perfect time to fertilize flower beds. It gives them a great boost of nutrients at a time when they are exerting a lot of energy producing stems, buds, and flowers.

A balanced, slow-release product is the best fertilizer for flowers in April, such as this 10-10-10 all-purpose flower and vegetable food at Amazon. As clumps expand and lose vigor over the years, annual feeding and dividing plants every few years keep any perennials performing year after year.

Only ever feed perennial plants gently; never go over the recommended rates. Over-fertilizing plants is always a mistake to avoid. But when it comes to perennials, you will get lots of lush growth rather than blooms, and that excess is likely to flop and look unsightly come summer.

Spring mulching is also advisable after fertilizing. Spread a 1-2 inch layer of organic matter, such as compost, leaf mold, or bark chippings (you can get bags of pine bark mulch at Lowe’s), to smother weeds, retain moisture, and feed plants as it decomposes.

6. Container Plants

Plants in container gardens always need more feeding and watering than those in the ground, as they can use up all the nutrients in the compost. After planting, the nutrients in the mix tend to last a couple of months, and so the plants need feeding going forward.

It means that any plants that have overwintered in pots and are entering a new season will be desperately in need of an additional dose of nutrients in early spring for the food they need to grow and flower over the weeks and months ahead.

To fertilize container plants, it is advisable to opt for a slow-release fertilizer in spring, supplemented with regular liquid feeds every week or two going forward.

This Osmocote plant food on Amazon can feed for up to six months and is a great source of spring nutrients. Sprinkle the recommended amount onto the soil surface and mix into the top inches of soil.

Follow this up with a liquid feed starting at least two weeks after the initial application. For this, you can use a general liquid product, homemade comfrey tea, or a seaweed fertilizer, such as this sea magic extract at Burpee.

What to Shop:

April can be a really busy time in any garden. But it is also an exciting time of year as the temperatures rise and the garden really bursts into life.

To help you plan your month, our guide to what to plant in April shows what range of plants you can add to your garden as the soil warms in spring. And, this piece on plants to prune in April will tell you what you should and shouldn’t trim this month, too.

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