Shrub Fertilizer
Keep shrubs full, green, and steadily growing with fertilizer made for landscape plantings. It supports dense foliage and healthy growth on viburnums, hollies, spireas, and other common shrubs.
Mix it into your normal watering routine as directed for simple, consistent feeding through the active growing season.
Why You'll Love It
- Steady Growth Keeps viburnums, hollies and spireas growing vigorously through the season.
- Healthy Foliage Supports the dense foliage a well-fed shrub carries.
- Easy to Use A regular liquid feed rather than a once-a-year granule.
Made by growers
More than a bottle on a shelf.
- Talk to real plant people. The team that mixes the formula answers your email.
- Made in-house, in the USA. Every bottle mixed and filled by us, not a third party.
- We're growers, not resellers. We use this on our own plants before it ships.
- Bundle savings only here. Pair any two TPS formulas — your order ships free.
Shrub fertilizer to promote dense foliage and vigorous growth. A regular liquid feed keeps viburnums, hollies, spireas, and the rest of the front-yard lineup full and green.
How to Use Shrub Fertilizer
| Method | Amount | How Often |
|---|---|---|
| Watering can (spring & summer) | 2 Tbs (30mL) per gallon of water | Apply every 1-2 weeks |
| Watering can (fall & winter) | Same dilution | Apply every 4 weeks |
| Hose end sprayer | Set dial to 1 oz (30mL) setting | Apply every 1-2 weeks in spring and summer |
| Leaf misting (optional) | 1 tsp per quart (32 oz) of water | Spray on leaves every 1-2 weeks |
Mix into your normal watering — no separate feeding routine needed. Water the root zone out to the edge of the canopy rather than against the stems, where most of the feeder roots actually are.
What's Inside
A 3.6-3-5.1 ratio for plants that have to look full and survive outdoors year after year. Nitrogen at 3.6% — all nitrate nitrogen, the form roots absorb directly, fast-acting with low burn risk — supports the leaf and shoot production that turns a row of young plants into a solid hedge, and drives the regrowth after every pruning. Potassium leads at 5.1% because that's what carries a shrub through the year: thicker cell walls, better water regulation in heat and drought, and improved cold hardiness in the wood that has to survive winter. Phosphate at 3% feeds the root system underneath, which is what limits how fast a new planting establishes.
Beyond NPK: sea kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) for natural growth compounds, plus calcium at an unusually high 2.1% and 0.75% magnesium, with iron, manganese, zinc, boron, and copper. Iron and magnesium are the two established shrubs run short of first — both drive chlorophyll production and both become less available as soil pH drifts up, showing as yellowing leaves with green veins on new growth while older foliage stays dark.
Made For
Landscape and hedge shrubs — boxwood, privet, laurel, viburnum, spirea, forsythia, holly, barberry, hydrangea, and juniper — as foundation plantings, privacy hedges, mixed borders, and container shrubs, from new plantings to established specimens.
Problems It Solves
- Hedges with gaps that never fill in
- Slow, sparse regrowth after pruning or shearing
- Yellowing leaves with green veins on established shrubs
- New shrubs sitting unchanged a year after planting
FAQs
How often should I fertilize shrubs?
Add 2 Tbs (30mL) per gallon of water and apply every 1-2 weeks in spring and summer, dropping to every 4 weeks in fall and winter. A hose end sprayer set to the 1 oz (30mL) setting covers a hedge line or foundation planting in one pass. Water out to the edge of the canopy rather than at the base — that's where the feeder roots are.
When should I fertilize shrubs, and when should I stop?
Spring through summer is the working window, following the every 1-2 weeks schedule as growth is active. In cold climates, ease off the heavy schedule in late summer: shrubs pushed with nitrogen late produce soft shoots that won't harden before frost and often die back over winter. The label's every 4 weeks fall and winter rate maintains plants without forcing that growth.
Why won't my hedge fill in?
Feeding helps, but pruning technique usually matters more. Shrubs branch from where you cut, so light, regular trimming produces density while letting plants grow untouched produces bare interiors with growth only at the tips. Also check spacing — plants set too far apart can't close the gap — and light, since hedges thin out badly on shaded sides. Feed and prune together for the fastest fill.
Can I use this on flowering shrubs?
Yes, though timing matters for bloom. Hydrangea, forsythia, spirea, and similar shrubs benefit from the balanced growth this supports. The pruning rule is the one to watch: many flowering shrubs set next year's buds shortly after blooming, so cutting them late removes the flowers regardless of feeding. For plants grown mainly for bloom, a bloom-weighted formula suits them better.
Should I feed newly planted shrubs?
Yes, and establishment is where feeding pays off most. A new shrub spends its first year or two building roots before it puts on visible size, and the phosphate and potassium here support exactly that. Water consistently through the first two growing seasons, keep mulch off the stems, and feed on the regular schedule — the difference between a fed and unfed new planting shows clearly by year two.
When will I see results?
All the nitrogen is nitrate, absorbed directly by roots, so it starts working with the first watering. Expect deeper green within 2-3 weeks. Growth results take longer — new shoots and canopy density build over 4-8 weeks in the growing season, and hedge fill-in is a season-long project. Shrubs fed consistently through spring and summer show the clearest difference by the following spring.
Related Products
Tree And Shrub Fertilizer Boxwood Fertilizer Mycorrhizal Fungi for Trees