What I use to fertilize my yard 🌼🐛🌺🦋 | backyard

I get asked what do I use to fertilize my outdoor containers and garden beds. The short of it is I don't do much fertilizing. I have heavy clay soil, and this retains nutrients quite well. I put down compost in the spring and that is it for my garden beds. For my containers I do use fertilizer because pots lose nutrients quickly with how much they need to be watered. I wish I was better at applying it though! 🤔

[@HoustonKeith72]

Love your wren friends!!! Ha!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

My Carolina Wrens are loud little birds! In the spring when they are singing for mates it is hard to believe such a little bird could belt out such a loud song. 😂

[@JaneDoe-ft8sz]

Thank you for pointing out the benefits of clay in soil. ❤❤❤

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

You're welcome! It can be a difficult soil to garden in, but we do have the wonderful advantage of it having loads of nutrients and it retaining them. 😊👍

[@Shadesofvine]

Nice sharing 👍❤️

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you! 😊

[@geauxtigers_8458]

Crystal, your garden is looking great this year! 😁🌿🌸🌼 I usually use Plant Tone fertilizer and Vital Earth Compost that I get from my local nursery and have been very happy with that combo. May try that Happy Frog soil conditioner next spring. Thank you for sharing!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you! 😊 I am a big fan of using what you can get locally. Some of the nurseries are better than others here, but once you find one you like ... well, that is one less thing to do ... search for a good nursery!

[@BackyardBertha]

Lots of food for thought! Thank you for sharing fertilizer info today.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

I don't endorse products, so I'm kind of reluctant to do a video like this one. But I do get asked questions about what I do to fertilize.

[@BackyardBertha]

@@ButterfliesNBirds I always learn from you. 😊

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

I like to think we all learn from each other! 😊 We are getting rain right now and it looks like it will be rainy for a few days here. Happy gardening!

[@juliejenkins4743]

What a great video I will watch it again after work❤

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thanks for watching and your comment! 😊

[@deborahwade2641]

Thankyou Crystal. I enjoyed your fertilizer video. I like the idea of of compost and soil conditioner in spring. 😊

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for your comment! 😊 I really liked the soil conditioner this spring. I think I will use it in the future too, as I was pretty impressed with it. We do try to make our own compost, but don't get enough for all of the garden beds, so I do need to purchase it each spring.

[@deborahwade2641]

@@ButterfliesNBirds I wrote down the brands you buy and I'm going to give them a try. Thanks again.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

You know, I am reluctant to show brands because I don't endorse anything. I think there are a lot of good things out there. And depending on where people live, some brands aren't available. But if something works, it is nice to hear about it. 😊

[@8thcelisabeth]

Fantastic video! I have heavy clay soil up here in SD. Love the mineral heavy qualities, especially once I have amended the soil with the usual (chop n drop, leaves, grass clippings, soil snacks, compost et al) over the years. It's now a loamy clay and am very happy with it. Big fan of Plant Tone, but honestly? I buy what is on sale. Not a purist either. I got a bag of the small Jobes fertilizer tabs on clearance for $2.71. Yeah, I bought it. Re: soil test, I soil tested two spaces. New garden bed, and an older bed. I wanted to see if what I was doing to improve the soil was actually working. Both beds were critically low on Zinc and Boron, so now I concentrate on micro-nutrients. Your garden is beautiful!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you! Your comment has made me even more realize I need to soil test. Thank you so much for taking the time to share. 😊

[@wendy5006]

Thank you for your detailed fertilization process. I've looked at those large bags of Miracle-Gro organic potting soil at Costco in spring but shy away mainly because it's a Miracle-Gro product and it smelled terrible. Guess having been an organic gardener for 30+ years I didn't trust the company. However I've relaxed a bit in my thinking about the use of some non organic products on containers planted with basically flowering plants/shrubs (i.e. scented, trailing and regular geraniums pelargoniums) so I have started using the Miracle-Gro plant food on those. I still stick with organic (Microlife or Esphoma) for anything with edibles (blackberries; goji, citrus, herbs, mints, the occasional veggie). I have used Esphoma Biotone in the planting hole which seems to work wonders for newbie plants. I also use Microlife Ocean Harvest and/or Medinas Hasta-Gro as a liquid feed for those potential edibles in containers. And, if a plant is ailing, I'll add SuperThrive ( a drop to a gallon of water) with the liquid feed. While I don't specifically grow just for butterflies and pollinators, I seem to have a bunch. The butterflies especially love the zinnas, the citrus and the giant milkweed (only organic products on those). So that's what mostly works for my garden usually, these past two prior seasons have been challenging! Bottom line I guess is whatever works for ones individual garden based on budget, growing zone, soil conditions and ones gardening ethos. Thank you again!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply! 🥰 I too think using organic for edibles is the way to garden if at all possible. I really like your regimen. I am interested in the Microlife organic fertilizer, so I think I will check out your suggestion of Friendswood Garden Emporium! (Thank you for that suggestion on another post! 😀👍) And I love the fact that it is produced locally!!!

[@leon22081994]

A suggestion/question, have you considered adding frogfruit and sunshine mimosa to your yard? They are both native host and nectar plants to your area and make good groundcovers

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Are you thinking of replacing grass with the frogfruit / sunshine mimosa? (I really like the little "purple puff ball" flowers of the sunshine mimosa btw). I probably won't replace our grass yet, but I am always considering what i would like to do. Your suggestion is a very valid one.

[@leon22081994]

@@ButterfliesNBirds Not replacing the grass, but to plant them throughout the lawn and let them spread. There's a jogging trail in Houston that I used to go to that had both plants growing interspersed with the grass. The mimosa was better at coexisting with grass though, as the frogfruit was forming more of a mat.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Oh, now that is interesting! Thank you for sharing your observations too! 😀👍

[@elsahickman3379]

Thank you so much!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

You're welcome! Happy gardening. 😊

[@jenniferdavis8088]

I buy my bagged soil from lowes if they have opened bags they are reduced for half off

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

That's a great tip! 👍😀

[@melaniemohler3634]

My favorite fertilizer is made in Houston, 100% complete nutrition, organic, and contains billions of beneficial microbes representing 76 different species. All of my plants and my lawn are healthier because of this. I have used MicroLife products exclusively for 8 years. I used other organic fertilizers prior, including Espoma products; but the MicroLife outperforms the others.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

I have heard this from other commenters! Where do you purchase yours? I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I just need to specifically look for it. I remember looking it up last year and was intrigued with it. Thank you for your comment! 😊

[@wendy5006]

Friendswood Garden Emporium, formally Friendswood Hardware, carries Microlife products at a better price than Ace Hardware.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for this comment, as Friendswood is close to me. I will need to check it out. 😀👍

[@goldengirl65]

When I made my gardens here I got a lot of good soil from the local soil/garden place at the time. They brought it in their truck. So my soil is pretty good. I have always used pea straw as mulch which is terrific for the soil and plants. I never fertilised. Like you over the years I've bought some fertiliser but i tend to just get in and do what I need to and it's forgotten about. The last two years I've been extending my garden and replacing what has died and I have bought bags of compost and used that along with a few bags of garden soil. I like the compost. The only other thing I used last year was when I planted some peonies and saw it said add lime and potash so I did. I did buy some blood and bone last year and it attracted rodents and they ate into the bag and spread it all over the concrete so it's safely away now. I'm not big on the chemical fertilizers. I have been in the shop looking at them and then I um and ah because i don't really want to use them but then might buy say a rose one and get it home and it just sits there because I really am not happy to use any chemicals.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

It sounds like we garden similarly.😊 I know my containers need fertilizer because they are in containers which are watered frequently, so I am a little better with that. But I am sold on compost / soil conditioners each spring for my garden beds.

[@lorrainemaccarelli4655]

Thanks for sharing. I live in the mountains of SC and have clay soil too. I moved here a year ago, so relatively new garden. I did add earthworm castings last year. Everything is doing good

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Earthworm castings are great for the garden! 😊 I bet it is beautiful in the mountains of SC! Clay soil can be difficult to garden in, but one of the advantages is it does have and retain a lot of nutrients.

[@levans3447]

Do you have a video that shows you in the spring applying the bags of compost, etc?

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

No I don't - I haven't thought to do that. Maybe I should next spring. 😊

[@tammiedunbar6166]

Crystal I purchased two Purple Porter Weeds on the label it says that it's a vine and likes to climb on a trellis. I live in Georgia in zone 8a or 8b depending upon the weather during the winter. I'm going to plant them in ceramic glazed pots and overwinter them out of the harsh freezes that occur sometimes. My soul is heavy red clay. I use chicken manure mixed with compost. But not fresh chicken manure because it will burn the plants roots. I also use "Plant Tone organic fertilizer". Crystal your garden is lush!😊😊!😊😊😊

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

All the porterweeds I have aren't climbers ... in fact they act more like a "hedge" than anything else. Maybe there is a trailing variety? That would be neat! I think it is smart to plant them in containers and overwinter them. We live in zone 9b and they don't reliably come back for us. (The purple porterweed has more chance of returning than other varieties). I'm sure the aged chicken manure added to your compost works wonders! 😊👍

[@HoustonKeith72]

I was on vaca and missed your posts! Catching up. Where did you find the happy frog? I want to create some beds and want to add this to the soil.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

I hope you had a great vacation! I got the Happy Frog at Enchanted Gardens nursery in Richmond. It was cheaper there than at Ace Hardware believe it or not. I would Google and see where you could get it that was close to you. It is kind of expensive ... I think I paid $14 a bag. But I only put it in the beds in the spring.

[@nicholasryan5401]

Great video, It was the bees knees. We mulch the flowerbeds with homemade compost every March and add a couple of handfuls of organic fish blood and bone meal around each plant, that's it until the following March. We use tomato food to feed our containers of perennials and annuals every week during the summer.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for your comment! I am impressed that you have enough homemade compost. We cannot make enough for our garden beds. 😕 (But we do use what we get.)

[@nicholasryan5401]

@@ButterfliesNBirds We have four small flowerbeds in the front garden which don't need a lot of homemade compost for mulching. We made three one metre by one metre compost bins a few years ago because we also have to top up the no dig veg bed every year in the back garden.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Very nice - one meter by one meter - and three of them. (I'm assuming you do the "hot compost" method).

[@nicholasryan5401]

@@ButterfliesNBirds We do the hot composting method and it works really well for us.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

👍

[@janetrosario6324]

Good morning Crystal, my portweed plants are not flowing this year. Is it because they need to be fertilized. I live in central florida zone 10b

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Good morning! It could be a couple of things. If you have them in containers they may need to be fertilized. If you have been very hot, that could be it too. Last summer all of my porterweed (the colors: blue, purple, coral, red, and lavendar) did not bloom when we were experiencing high temperatures over 100 degrees. The minute the heat broke they had a "superbloom" where the segment along the bloom stalk was much longer. (That heat lasted for over a month). Do your plants look healthy otherwise? Is so, give them some organic fertilizer and they will bloom eventually.

[@blackglama1]

We all do the same over fertilizer. The best is slow release cow manure.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Where do you get yours? 😊

[@blackglama1]

@@ButterfliesNBirds from a farm down the road from me or Lowe’s or HP, if I can’t get hold from the farm .

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you! 👍😀