over feeding trees

[Mike]

Hi, just wondering whether one can over feed youngish trees. I have a number of oaks planted around the place that are 10 years old. What I do is mulch them with a barrow load of horse muck once a year to give them a boost...they seem to respond well. Anyway it was suggested to me if you over feed they grow too fast and the tips don't harden off enough for winter. What do you reckon? Mike

[splodger]

although a barrowful of horse muck doesn't seem excessive -(so long as it is well rotted)- i would be inclined to only give young trees a mulch / feed in the spring if i thought they needed a boost, otherwise would not bother when in a woodland setting - as the soil tends to be quite rich anyway (in our woods this is the case anyway)

for trees growing on poor soil or in grassed areas i think a good mulch would be much needed - and would give a mulch in spring and probably in autumn - using a combination of broken down leaf litter/rotted muck/green waste compost