I am somewhat new to gardening as prior to this everything I grew was in a pot. I now have a nice house in NC and while I am doing a lot of container growing, I also have a lot of bushes, trees, etc. We live in Pinehurst, NC, where there is a wait to get into the gardening club!

When someone from my nursery came to plant a few things that I could not plant as I couldn't dig a big enough hole, he told me I should get mulch and told me how to put it around etc.

I also have fertilizer.

My question is, do I fertilize now or AFTER the plant has bloomed.

And then do I fertilize again in the fall?

Do I mulch now?

If so to all of these questions, does the fertilizer go first and then the mulch?

I have a beautiful garden even though I don't know what I am doing. Can I post pictures?

Tommy McDonell in Pinehurst NC (female)

The only way you can post pictures in this forum is to put your picture on a photohosting site (like photobucket.com) and then paste links to your photos.

Good luck!

I recommend fertilizing with a good rhododendron and azalea fertilizer like Hollytone once in the spring at half the rate on the package.

I only fertilize when my plants show some signs of needing fertilizing and that ranges from seldom to never.