You should fertilize your maple maple once a year. Vitality, immunity and winter hardiness benefit equally from a well-balanced nutrient supply. This guide gets to the heart of when and how to properly fertilize a maple tree.
When and how should you fertilize a maple tree?
You should fertilize a maple tree once a year, preferably in early autumn, with a potassium-rich, organic fertilizer such as mature compost and comfrey manure. This increases frost hardiness and disease resistance.
Best time is in autumn
As a refinement of the Norway maple (Acer platanoides), a ball maple is not dependent on fertilizer to promote its growth potential. The task of supplementary nutrient supply is rather to strengthen frost hardiness and resistance to diseases. For this reason, early fall is coming into focus as the best date for applying fertilizers.
Potassium-based, organic fertilizer is the trump card – tips for composition
High-growing ball maple varieties can safely do without nitrogen, the engine of growth. In order to be prepared for the rigors of the winter, the right fertilizer should contain plenty of potassium. This main nutrient has the property of strengthening cell walls and lowering the freezing point in plant sap. Mineral fertilizers are taboo for the ecologically oriented gardener, so this nutrient supply has proven to be ideal:
- Distribute 3 liters of mature compost per square meter between the end of August and mid-September
- Work the fertilizer in superficially with the rake
- Top with potassium-rich comfrey manure
Home gardeners without a compost heap and the ability to produce comfrey manure resort to potash, also known as potash magnesia. If you are cultivating your globe maple in a bucket, we recommend adding liquid potassium fertilizer, such as Purital.
Starting fertilization gets growth going – Here’s how it works
If you think about an adequate supply of nutrients when planting, a ball maple tree will unfold in all its glory right from the start and give the cold shoulder to cunning fungal spores. Line the planting pit with comfrey leaves and mix the excavated material with compost and horn shavings. Then water generously so that the organic nutrients are completely absorbed.
Tip
Spherical maple thrives with a heart root system that extends significantly more in width than in depth. In order to motivate the roots to grow deeply, it is better to water less often and penetratingly, rather than frequently and superficially. During dry summers, run the hose for at least 30 minutes twice a week.
