When your aspen leaves turn golden yellow in fall, that’s the beauty of living in Eastern Idaho.
But when it happens in spring or summer, something’s off.
Why are your grass or tree leaves turning yellow? It could be an insect infestation, dog urine or overwatering.
But here in Idaho, it’s just as likely an iron deficiency in plants called iron chlorosis. Plant pros will tell you we’re kind of famous for it.
Let’s learn more about nutrient deficiency in plants, including:
Most soil in Idaho has a high pH, often 7.0 or higher, and high calcium levels.
The iron grass and plants need is in the soil, but high pH and calcium bind it tightly to soil particles, locking it up and making it unavailable for plant roots to absorb.
It’s a natural phenomenon scientists find cool, but gardeners hate.
No matter how much fertilizer you use, your trees or lawn roots won’t get the essential iron because Rexburg soil has a pesky high pH.
Another factor: Out in the woods, where trees are in their natural element, the forest floor is covered with a tasty buffet of decaying organic matter that’s nutritious food for hungry trees.
But you scoop up all that good stuff so your yard looks nice. Nobody blames you. That damp debris trees love looks terrible. But it means you need to replace those nutrients your trees need.
Iron chlorosis turns tree and plant leaves yellow or white, while the main veins stay dark green.
Affected plants often produce smaller leaves, shorter twigs, and may drop leaves earlier than normal.
Why does high-pH soil cause yellow leaves? Plants need iron to make chlorophyll, the green pigment that captures sunlight. Without enough accessible iron, chlorophyll production stalls, and leaves lose their green color and turn yellow.
If your soil is locking up your tree’s nutrients, how do you give your trees what they need? How to fix yellow leaves on plants?
You probably think of fertilizing as scattering nutrients on the ground and letting water help them sink into the soil.
But surface fertilizing like this isn't enough when iron gets locked up in the soil.
Meet tree injections. Nutrients are injected right into the tree trunk, then quickly taken up by the vascular system and distributed throughout the tree. As sap and water flow through your tree, the nutrients they need travel to the roots, branches, twigs and leaves.
This professional tree fertilizing delivers micronutrients, including iron, directly to the tree, quickly replenishing what it needs.
One treatment lasts a full year.
Why is it so important to feed your tree? A tree’s root system is huge and hungry, often spreading out underground twice as wide as the tree’s canopy.
Those hungry roots compete with everything else in your Pocatello landscaping for the soil's nutrients.
A tree can get really hungry. Why not feed it as quickly and efficiently as possible?
Deep-root tree fertilization injects nutrients directly into the soil instead of spreading them on the surface.
Why is this a good idea?
By injecting fertilizer at high pressure, the nutrients can quickly reach the deepest tree roots, feeding your tree from the roots up.
This professional tree fertilizer delivers nutrients straight to the tree’s roots with a long, cool-looking wand, giving your tree an immediate nutrition boost.
Over time, the nutrients reach the rest of your tree, making it healthier and more vibrant.
Q: Are there other reasons leaves or grass turn yellow, besides nutrient deficiency in plants?
A: Yes, for quite a few reasons:
Q: Why doesn't adding more fertilizer fix a high-pH iron problem?
A: More fertilizer won’t solve this problem. The soil already has plenty of nutrients from a proper amount of fertilizer, but high alkalinity locks them up and makes them unavailable to plants.
If you add more fertilizer, you’re just adding more iron that will also get locked up in the soil.
Q: Do I need a soil test?
A: A soil pH test can be an important part of your Idaho lawn and plant health care. What is soil pH testing, exactly? A soil pH test measures your soil's acidity or alkalinity. A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral. An acid soil has a pH value below 7.0. A pH above 7.0 means the soil is alkaline.
As we discussed earlier, soil in Eastern Idaho tends to have a high pH, which means it can’t absorb all those great nutrients in fertilizer.
Soil test results will show whether your lawn needs lime or sulfur to balance its pH. Both lime and sulfur help balance soil pH, a form of soil pH correction.
Once you know what your soil needs, you can treat it so your plants can actually use the nutrients in your fertilizer.
Q: How common is iron chlorosis in this market, and which trees get hit hardest here?
A: Iron chlorosis is one of the most common plant problems in Eastern Idaho. Most of our soil here has a high pH above 7.0, which binds up iron and makes it hard for plant roots to absorb the nutrient even when it’s right there in the ground.
Maples, aspen and birch are all affected by iron chlorosis, as well as many fruit trees.
Q: When is the best time to fertilize trees in Idaho Falls?
A: In the fall, after the stress of a long hot summer and in time to set them up well for the winter ahead.
Tree roots stay active and keep growing even after their leaves drop and temperatures cool. They keep absorbing and storing nutrients throughout the winter.
Nutrients stored from fall fertilizing serve as an important reserve, fueling the burst of green growth you look forward to when spring arrives.
If your tree leaves are yellow in the fall, grab your camera.
But if your trees look weak and struggling, with yellow leaves in the height of summer, it may be time to take a closer look. Professional plant health care services can build a treatment plan around what your landscaping actually needs.
Comprehensive Plant Health Care Services, precisely targeted to our local plants’ challenges and needs, is an easy add-on to our simple six-visit full-service lawn care program.
Love peace of mind? Done.
Choose an Idaho Falls professional lawn care service that bundles your yard’s most-needed treatments into one convenient, no-fuss plan, plus know your valuable trees and shrubs are getting the nourishing nutrients they need to thrive.
We’ve been in the plant health care business for a while. Since 2001, hundreds of homeowners in Eastern Idaho have relied on Lawn Buddies for reliable lawn care services and expert plant health care.
We’d love to add you to our club of happy customers.
Got a few minutes to help keep your trees healthy? That’s all you need to get started. Just fill out the form on this page, call us at (208) 656-9131 or read more about our services. Then you can kick back and relax in your healthy, thriving yard.