Can you use the same fertilizer on flowers, vegetables, fruits, shrubs, and trees?

Most of the fertilizers in the schedule for your bermudagrass is a little more expensive because they are slow-release with small prill sizes (size of the granule) that dissolve well. If you get them in your flower beds and under trees that is fine but it’s not the ideal fertilizer for them. Flowers for example need more than what’s in your bermudagrass fertilizer order to bloom well. This is why bone meal which is high phosphorous or Epsom salt with lots of magnesium and sulfur are popular additives to put down around the base of flowering plants.

You can use cheap Miracle-Gro Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food instead. It is a 24-8-16 quick-release fertilizer and is perfect for plants. Within days of spraying it you will notice all your flowers, shrubs, and tree leaves perk up. It is usually a few dollars cheaper on Amazon for the 10 lb. box than at Home Depot.

You can also use the equally cheap Miracle-Gro Shake ‘N Feed All Purpose Plant Food instead which is granular and slow-release. You only need to put it down 4 times a year since it will last for 3 months at a time. Just shake some near the base of your plants, lightly rake it in, and then water it in. It’s usually just slightly cheaper on Amazon than at Home Depot.

There are also some specialty fertilizers available for different types of flowers, vegetables, fruits, roses, shrubs, and trees that offer different NPK ratios and other additives like insect control and disease control. These are usually labeled 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 fertilizers and often slow-release fertilizers that last many months. These are all fine to use as well if you need them but for basic cheap fertilization, as a quick-release pick me up or slow-release for 3 months, the all-purpose Miracle-Gro is fine.

If you have flowers, flowering shrubs, or flowering ornamental trees, try sprinkling some Miracle-Gro Nature’s Care Organic Bone Meal under them and raking it in. This produces some great flower blooms for even the most stubborn plants that refuse to blossom. Bone meal is made of ground-up beef bones and the phosphorus in it makes flowers come alive. It has a 6-8-0 NPK ratio so there is a little nitrogen in it too. An added bonus, bone meal helps keep rabbits away from your garden! The scent is not noticeable to humans but repels the rabbits.