Fertilizer for urban trees

I’ve googled around for info on care of sidewalk planted trees. Apart from some info on tree guards and watering there is no info on feeding the trees. Growing up in North Carolina we used tree spikes (probably mostly nitrogen fertilizer) and that worked very well. I don’t know if anyone has any tips on feeding or other care. We’ve got a Honeylocust and an Oak in front of our building.

jfountain

in Garden 11 years ago

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ventilated | 11 years ago

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The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) offers classes, as marie-helene mentioned. So does Million Trees. The Parks Dept. also maintains a page with information about street tree care (each sublink has more info): http://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/tree-care http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/misc/street_tree_care.shtml

Arkady | 11 years ago

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The BBG gives seminars on street tree care.

marie-helene | 11 years ago

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You can take a (free) class on how to become a Tree Steward: http://www.bbg.org/greenbridge/street_trees In general, established trees don’t need too much. It’s a good idea to water them in times of drought, but this year is going to be quite wet. I put 2″ of mulch over the entire tree pit area, twice a year. You can plant easy groundcover plants in lieu of mulch, like ajuga or stonecrop sedum. They do the same job as mulch, and may discourage dog owners (or not, and then your plants will die – I have given up on plants in tree pits.)