QuestionI purchased Miracle Gro "lawn food" instead of the miracle gro I usually buy for vegetables, shrubs, etc. Is it ok to use it on my bushes and vegetables?
AnswerThere are better products out there -- Scotts purchased Miracle Gro and now has umpteen spinoffs to better get you to part with your money -- but the high Nitrogen Miracle Gro for Grass won't kill anything.
MG for Lawns has a 36-6-6 analysis for Potassium Nitrate and Ammonium Phosphate. You'll have to boost the Phosphorous requirement some other way. Vegetables and flowering shrubs or perennials NEED Phosphorous. That's the middle number on the Fertilizer label. Leafy green vegetables and even Shrubs don't need it and will probably thrive with the high-Nitrogen Lawnfood. Carrots and root vegetables, flower shrubs like Roses and Camellias, Broccoli and Cauliflower -- they will not do well with Lawn Food.
Instead of Miracle Gro, I recommend you amend your Vegetable and Perennial beds with large bags of Bonemeal, which is packed with Phosphorous for large, healthy flowers and strong roots. It will slow release through the summer, all next year, the year after that, the year after that, giving you the best results that money can buy. No other fertilizer needed. Honest.
