The spring garden feeding checklist

When should you start feeding in spring?

Plants do not read calendars, they read soil temperature. The signal to start is visible growth: pale new tips on the shrubs, the lawn greening up and needing a cut again, buds swelling on the fruit trees. In warmer parts of the country that can be late August, in cooler districts well into October. Feeding a cold, dormant garden is mostly wasted, because slow roots take up very little.

Once growth kicks off though, spring is the hungriest stretch of the year. Plants are building leaves, roots and flower buds all at once, and a liquid feed suits that pace because it can be used within days rather than weeks. For the full year mapped out, see our month-by-month feeding guide.

What does each part of the garden need?

One mix, two methods, and really only one decision per plant: is it building, or is it producing? Building plants want nitrogen. Producing plants want phosphorus and potassium.

Part of the garden	What it is doing now	Feed
Lawn	Pushing leaf and runners after winter	Grow
Leafy veg, herbs, silverbeet	All leaf, all season	Grow
Young tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers	Building frame before flowering	Grow, then switch at first flower
Roses, flowering shrubs	Setting buds	Grow early, bloom once buds show
Citrus and fruit trees	Flushing leaf, then flowering	Grow at leaf flush, bloom at flowering
Strawberries and berries	Leaf and runners, then flowers	Grow, then bloom
Indoor plants	Waking up as light returns	Grow
Australian natives	Spring flush	Grow, half strength only

Medigrow is the nitrogen-led Phase 1 feed for everything in the building column. Medibud is the phosphorus and potassium-led Phase 2 feed for flowers, fruit and yield. Most backyards need both across spring, which is why the Medigrow and Medibud bundle exists: $169 for the 5 L pair, saving $29, and about 444 feeds, near 38c each.

How much, and how often?

The rate never changes between the two bottles, which makes this easy to remember.

Water	Medigrow or Medibud	Best for
1 L spray bottle	2.5 mL	Foliar spray, indoor plants, a few pots
5 L half can	12.5 mL	A bed or a row of pots
9 L full can	About 22 mL	Veggie beds, shrubs, lawn patches
1 L, seedlings	1.25 mL	Punnets and transplants, weekly

Every 1 to 2 weeks through the growing season is the rhythm. One mix, two methods: spray it on the leaves or water it in at the roots, same rate either way. Early morning suits foliar spraying, so the foliage dries before the heat.

What about seedlings and natives?

Seedlings have small root systems and burn easily, so halve the dose to 1.25 mL per litre and feed weekly instead. That gentler, more frequent approach suits punnets, newly pricked-out veg and anything transplanted in the last fortnight.

Many Australian natives, banksias and grevilleas among them, are sensitive to phosphorus. Feed those at half strength with Medigrow only, occasionally rather than fortnightly, and skip the bloom feed entirely. If you are unsure what a particular native tolerates, your local nursery will know the species that struggle in your area.

Your spring feeding checklist

1. Wait for new growth, then make your first feed a grow feed across the whole garden.
2. Mulch after you feed, not before, so the liquid reaches the soil.
3. Drop seedlings and natives to half strength.
4. Mark the fortnight on the calendar or the phone, because consistency beats intensity.
5. Switch each plant to bloom the week you see its first flowers, not before.

Lawns have a few extra jobs beyond feeding, and those are covered in our spring lawn care checklist. Strawberries are worth their own plan too, since they flip between grow and bloom more than once a season: see how to fertilise strawberries.

Common questions

Can I feed everything on the same day?

Yes, and most people do. Mix one can of grow feed for the building plants, then a second can of bloom feed for anything in flower. About twenty minutes for an average backyard.

Is it safe around the kids and the dog?

Our formulas are mineral-based, with no blood and bone, fish meal or manure, so there is no food smell to draw pets onto the beds. Safe around kids and pets when used as directed. Let the foliage dry after spraying before anyone plays on it.

What if I miss a fortnight?

Nothing dramatic. Pick up at the next feed at the normal rate rather than doubling to catch up. Plants respond better to steady feeding than to a big correction.

Both formulas are made and shipped in Australia, from blends trusted by Australian farmers for 25 years and refined for home gardens. Free shipping over $149, free express over $249, and a 30-Day Growers Guarantee: no results, reply to your order email and we will refund you.