I am so inconsistent in my thinking along those lines. Mainly because my plants grow under such different conditions. There is no uniformity in my beds. So yes the plants growing in among the oak trees I feel need an extra boost, the plants growing under normal conditions normally get an extra boost, then there is the bog bed.
The bog bed is made up of mud and compost, lots and lots of compost, and here is where my inconsistency comes into play....they need an extra boost because with all those oak leaves I know the nitrogen level has to be low at this time of year...normally it is too hot at this time of year to put much nitrogen to them in fear it might possibly cause rot...then my brain says there is no need for any additives because the bog is covered with earth worm castings and what is better than that.
So my rational brain usually deserts me, if I have fertilizer on hand (a true weakness) I tend to use it. If not then my brain says the plants don't need a boost. Right now I have bags of high nitrogen fertilizer on hand, and the temps are cooler this August than I can ever remember, still I think I will wait till late September or early October when I am reworking the beds to use the fertilizer. I think it was Fred that mentioned that by doing it then he got a huge jump in plant development by spring.
what I have been doing is cleaning up the plants (pulling the dead scapes and dead and yellowing leaves ) as I evaluate a plant. I saw a video that said that if you want to avoid the two week period approximately, when the plants look so ratty to go ahead and pull the dead scapes and leaves, then they will generate new ones. I have been able to tell a much cleaner look in the garden, and have not bee able to tell it has degraded the plants performance. I can't say for sure but it sometimes seems it actually causes the plant to send up new scapes.
Speaking of plenty of rain all year, and now temperatures down in the 80' s for about two weeks, perfect rust weather. I have been sick the past three days and had to force myself out to the garden a few minutes to collect some soggy slimy seed pods, and the past blooms are molding right on the plant into a soggy mess, I try to pull those when I am well.
