Nearly lost a 40 year old oak by trusting a cheap soil injector

I picked up one of those $30 soil injectors off Amazon last spring in Portland thinking it'd save me time feeding roots. After 3 treatments the tree started dropping leaves in June and I found the injector was dumping too much nitrogen right near the trunk. Had to flush the soil with 200 gallons of water over two weeks to fix it. Anyone else had a tool that almost did more harm than good?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenniferw8213d ago

Honestly, that's the whole story of my shed roof last summer. I figured I'd save a few bucks on some cheap flashing instead of getting the proper metal stuff, and then a whole section of the roof started rotting out because water was getting trapped. Had to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it, which cost me way more time and money than if I'd just done it right the first time. Ngl, it's a hard lesson to learn but sometimes the "simple" or "fast" tool just isn't worth the headache. Tbh, I'm right there with you on that nitrogen thing too, I've seen so many people wreck their gardens with those cheap injectors.

phoenix_thompson413d ago

Man, that "too much nitrogen right near the trunk" part hit home. It's wild how we think a cheap shortcut will save us time, but it ends up costing way more in the long run. I've noticed this same pattern with a lot of stuff in life, not just yard work. People buy the cheapest pressure washer or the fastest fix for a leaky pipe, and then they spend twice as much fixing the damage it causes. Sometimes the old, slow way of doing things is the best way, even if it takes more elbow grease.