Home » Blog » Tax Day means its Holly-tone time Tax Day means its Holly-tone time April 15, 2016 Landscape, Perennials, Plants, Seasonal, Spring, Timely Tips, Trees, Van Putte Gardens Today is April 15, a.k.a Tax Day, but in our industry it’s Holly-tone Day! Acid-loving plants like holly, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreens (including Arborvitae), hydrangeas, dogwoods, and blueberries can all benefit from a regular fertilization schedule with Holly-tone. You wouldn’t forget to feed yourself, so don’t forget to feed your plants! Holly-tone is a granular slow-release fertilizer that’s best applied twice per year, first around Tax Day and the second time around Thanksgiving. The fall application is what your plants use during early spring (it uses the winter snows to work into the soil) and the Tax Day application is used through mid-summer for continued growth and flowering or fruit production. Plus it’s super easy to apply: Use the chart on the back of the bag to sprinkle the right amount for your size plant around its drip line (where the rain would drip off the outer branches — not right next to the trunk/stems) and you’re done! Click here to check out our Holly-tone! Providing the right balance of nutrients, minerals and pH will help evergreens stay green, and flowering shrubs to produce large and numerous flowers, but there’s no need to overdo it. We generally recommend not applying Holly-tone between August 1 and Thanksgiving — you don’t want your plants taking up a bunch of food and pushing new growth just before the winter cold comes blowing through! Thanksgiving is late enough that the plant will have hardened off for winter and that fertilizer will remain in the soil ready to feed the plant at the first sign of spring. Holly-tone is available in bags from 4-lb to 36-lb. Let us know if you have any other questions when you stop in, and “Happy Holly-tone Day!”