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best general fertiliser to use for perennials & shrubs?
geum keenbutgreen
Posts: 508
in Plants
I wonder if people can give their advice on the best general fertiliser / soil improver / food to use in the borders? I don't know anything about them I'm afraid. I've used granular rose / shrub feed as directed when planting new, but wanted to give existing plants a bit of a feed as I don't think it's been done for a while.
I do have a dog who is a proper 'bottom feeder' - always snuffling around and scoffing whatever he can get his chops on that's on the ground - so I've read that FBB and manure is probably going to be somewhat attractive to him 
I'd rather use something that he wasn't going to eat / roll in / dig in....
Thanks!
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Posts
Garden compost and well-rotted farmyard or horse manure are the best soil conditioners and both supply a base level of nutrients. And blood fish & bone is certainly a good general slow-release fertiliser. If you don't want any of those then your choices are rather limited!
Are there any other choices?
maybe a granular version he won't find as appealing?
Yep, blood fish and bone in powder form is good when pets are around. I use a box Poundland bfb mostly. Sounds cheap but it woks really well.
Magic, thanks to both Steves
Sorry about the typos...only just found my glasses!
Growmore, is inorganic and unappealing to animals [ I believe ]. I use it because of the high population of foxes around here, who tend to dig around, if I use FBB.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Thanks punkdoc, that's interesting. I've not seen a fox in the garden but I'm in a very rural location so I'm sure there are lots of creatures that come and go quietly without my knowledge. I can just imagine me giving the dog hell for digging in the borders when it was actually a fox!
My parents had a really greedy Cavalier spaniel. I remember very well the exciting rush to the vet's when Dad realised not only had Charlie slurped up the 1.5 kg of FBB powder he'd put out that morning, but also a large portion of soil with it. I'd never seen quite so much vomit from one animal (vet induced) - we flooded out the treatment room.
Definitely do not use FBB if your dog is a scavenger. We never had a problem with Growmore, or really well rotted manure that was dug in.
Oh blimey! I'm not a big fan of dog sick, I see enough of it as it is when he's been eating rubbish he finds lying around in the garden! Growmore it is, in that case!
Thanks seacrows