Fertilizing annuals and the man who loved too much

I was chatting with a man who wanted to know why his hanging basket of annuals died a short time after bringing them home.

“My neighbor told me I was using the wrong kind of fertilizer,” he said.

Turns out it was the fertilizer. The type of fertilizer was fine but the man was giving his annuals an elephant-sized dose of it daily. Call it the smother syndrome: He loved his plants to death.

More is not better. Some fertilizers contain salt that can build up in the soil and harm plants. Annuals need regular fertilizing through the growing season, generally about every three weeks. Choose a fertilizer with these numbers on the package: 5-10-5 or 5-10-10. Then follow the instructions on the label when it comes to how much to apply.