From the arborist...

I like to fertilize my trees once a year in the springtime, using a humate-based, slow-release fertilizer. It's best to put down fertilizer when the ground is damp, but not soggy. It does no good to try to fertilize when the ground is frozen, so if your ground hasn't thawed yet, you still have time before you need to think about fertilizing.

Use a fertilizer with low N-P-K levels, such as 5-3-1. When you're fertilizing your trees, do not let the product touch the trunk. You only need to put it down along the dripline, which is the circumference of the tree’s canopy, where the roots reach to take up moisture and nutrients. Top dress the fertilizer with mulch or compost and let the fertilizer seep in.

Also, don't forget your trees need consistent watering this time of year. Here in Taos, I'm watering my trees once a week these days. If you're in a hot stretch where you live, I recommend you do the same.

What is organic gardening?

If you grow your food using only materials coming from nature, with no synthetic or chemically modified ingredients in your gardening products, you can consider yourself an organic gardener. Simple products like peat, perlite, guano, worm castings, and other single or mixed ingredients coming straight from nature can be considered organic in the context of gardening.

If you want the USDA to consider your produce eligible for sale with organic labeling, you need to know more about those natural materials, for example, whether the manure or guano you’re using came from animals that were fed an organic diet. In this case, you want to look for special labeling. Products with the “OMRI-listed” label have been certified through the Organic Materials Review Institute, which means they went through rigorous testing to determine they contain no man-made chemicals and are suitable for organic production.