Feed roots directly in Colorado’s tough soils.
Creative Tree & Stump LLC is a Brighton, CO-based tree removal company serving 22 communities across Adams, Weld, Jefferson, Boulder, Broomfield, and Denver counties. Shawn Brandau, an ISA Certified Arborist who has worked Front Range soils since 1991, matches the blend and timing to the tree and the site, and the company is fully insured. Feeding is one of the most cost-effective things you can do for a tree in our soils, but only if it actually reaches the roots.
Front Range soils work against trees. They are typically heavy, alkaline clay, low in organic matter and the nutrients trees rely on — a far cry from the rich forest soils most landscape trees evolved in. On top of that, trees planted in lawns are constantly out-competed by turf, which grabs surface water and fertilizer before it ever reaches tree roots.
The result is slow, quiet decline: thin canopies, small leaves, poor color and weak growth that leave a tree vulnerable to pests and stress. Deep root fertilization addresses the cause directly, putting a tree-appropriate blend of nutrients into the root zone where the tree can use it, rather than hoping something trickles down from the surface. The difference shows up the next season in fuller canopies, better leaf color and stronger growth. It is the kind of steady improvement you notice year over year rather than overnight.
We use a soil probe to inject the liquid fertilizer under pressure in a grid across the root zone, working out from the trunk toward and past the drip line, where most of the active feeder roots are. The pressure does double duty — it places the nutrients exactly where roots can reach them and helps loosen the surrounding compacted clay, improving how water and air move through the soil.
It is clean, precise and leaves no mess on the surface, and the tree begins taking up the nutrients through its existing roots. We tailor the blend to what the tree and soil actually need rather than applying a generic mix, which is part of why it works as well as it does in our difficult ground. A soil test or a careful look at the tree tells us what to mix, so we are correcting an actual deficiency rather than guessing.
Fall is the prime window. As top growth slows, trees move energy and nutrients into their roots for storage, so a fall feeding is held and used efficiently heading into the next season. Early spring, as the tree wakes up and pushes new growth, is the second-best time. We avoid fertilizing during the heat and drought stress of midsummer, and never inject into frozen ground, when the tree cannot take anything up anyway.
For most Front Range trees, an annual or every-other-year feeding keeps them vigorous. We assess your trees and soil and recommend a sensible schedule — across Thornton and the north metro, a fall application is one of the simplest, highest-value things you can do for a struggling shade tree. We provide deep root fertilization throughout all 22 of the communities we serve.
Shawn Brandau has fed Front Range trees in tough clay soils since 1991 — an ISA Certified Arborist matching the blend to the tree, full insurance on every job, and no generic one-size mix.
Relieve compacted clay so roots — and fertilizer — can work.
Soil aeration & mulching →It is a method of feeding trees by pressure-injecting a liquid nutrient blend into the root zone, about 8 to 12 inches deep, where feeder roots are. It bypasses the lawn and surface and delivers nutrients straight to the tree, where the feeder roots can take them up directly.
Yes. Lawn fertilizer feeds turf at the surface and rarely reaches deeper, wider-spreading tree roots. Deep root fertilization injects a tree-specific blend into the root zone itself, so the tree is fed rather than the grass competing with it.
Fall is ideal, because trees store nutrients in their roots as top growth slows. Early spring is the next best time. We avoid midsummer heat stress and never inject into frozen ground, since the tree cannot use the nutrients then anyway.
For most Front Range trees, once a year or every other year keeps them vigorous in our nutrient-poor soils. We assess each tree and recommend a schedule rather than over-applying on a fixed calendar, since too much fertilizer can stress a tree as surely as too little.
It helps when poor nutrition is the problem, which is common here, but it is not a cure-all. If a pest, disease, chlorosis or compaction is the real cause, we treat that too. We diagnose first so the fertilizer is actually solving something rather than masking a different problem like compaction, chlorosis or a pest, all of which are common in our soils.
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