| Hummers? I found that unless you have your feeder out when they first come to the neighborhood, you may lose out.
Rhodies not blooming? Often not a compost issue. They like acid soil, so unless you live where they're native, and know your soil, you may need to add something. They can have an especially hard time as foundation plantings with newer houses, as the concrete foundation leaches lime. They're lousy foundation plantings in colder climates anyway.
Having grown things for many years, I can tell you that having the right soil and light conditions is far more important for plant health than what kind of fertilizer, or how often you add it.
I've used composted manure (my favorite, but expensive) and a wide variety of slow release chemical fertilizers, both synthetic and organic. All work well. The key, IMHO, is to use one that does not have much soluble nitrogen (read the label). That way the nitro slowly leaches into the soil, rather than a quick burst that washes away.
I also found the best, easiest way to amend bad soil is to use LOTS of mulch. I bought a truckload of bark mulch, spread it as thickly as I could (6 inches in spots), added high nitrogen fertilizer (organic? try Milorganite, but no veggies) and had an easy summer watering while it slowly broke down. Next summer, the soil was looking better. Two years it was great. Meanwhile, I had fewer weeds and fewer dried out, burned plants. |