Can a Tree Recover From Weed and Feed?

It is possible for the trees to come back from weed and feed damage. The starting point is more aggressive watering to leach the soil, compost spreading in the yard to stimulate microbiome, utilization of humic acids, and other soil conditioners can also help a lot. The name of the game is to beef up the health of the soil to help flush and process the chemicals.

The recovery process can happen quickly. It may take multiple years depending how long it’s been since the product was applied and how many consecutive treatments have been used. The triage also has a lot to do with it. A very old live oak that receives one or two treatments might not ever show symptoms and be just fine. However, a very young tree that’s not yet established might completely die from just one application of weed and feed.

When young trees are severely affected by weed and feed damage, it’s probably better to just cut your losses and start over with a good tree. The long term problems resulting from severe damage early on can really manifest over time while the tree may be okay. If the damage is stopped and the health is allowed to recover, there’s going to be a serious slowdown in growth and long term problems. For already mature trees, it’s probably fine to continue attempting to help them so long as structural integrity and tree risk circumstances remain acceptable.

When I get called out to look at a sick tree, my initial look at the tree is actually very quick. Maybe only a few seconds to quickly soak in the general condition of the tree’s vigor. Then I immediately start scanning the house and the landscape for cues about what has been going on. When weed and feed products have been used, the turf will tell me most of the time. Lawns that are just too perfect, not a weed in sight anywhere, very dark, rich, green, freshly mowed, signs that somebody’s putting a lot of energy into it. Maybe they’re hand pulling the weeds. Maybe enough people in the area take great care of their lawn that there’s just not a big seed source. Many times, it’s because a weed and feed product is being used.

If you’ve felt compelled to tackle a weed situation in your yard, the absolute safest thing to do is to simply hand pull the weeds when you see them. If you’re mowing the grass once a week or so, the mowing activity alone will eliminate much of the aesthetic problem with weeds. That’s just not enough. Hand pulling is ideal.

If there are so many weeds that that seems untenable, a pre-emergent application in late winter, early spring can reduce the amount of weeds that germinate. Another effective method that cannot be used in conjunction with pre-emergence is to flood a thin yard with seed. If you have enough sunlight, Bermuda is really easily done, highly successful using this technique. Shady areas, overseeding with Zoysia can be very effective in our area.