The trumpet tree (Catalpa bignonioides - not to be confused with the angel's trumpet!) is considered to be quite easy to care for. In fact, the wonderfully looking exotic grows quite quickly to an impressive size, as long as it feels comfortable in its location and you follow the most important rules of care. A sheltered, warm location and soil rich in humus and nutrients are particularly important. Although Catalpa is considered to be very consuming, you should not be too wasteful, especially with artificial fertilizers.
Young trumpet trees in particular benefit from additional nutrients
Suitable fertilizers for trumpet tree
The trumpet tree particularly benefits from organic fertilizers, especially mature compost - which you can apply especially in early spring and autumn - horn shavings (32.93€) and a well-balanced, mineral-rich garden fertilizer. However, before you provide your trumpet tree with such means, a soil analysis is often useful. This costs a little, but you get concrete information about which nutrients are missing and how you should best fertilize.
Which is why overly nitrogenous fertilization is counterproductive
This is particularly helpful with regard to fertilization that is too nitrogenous, because although this stimulates growth and leaf sprouting immensely, it also has many disadvantages. Too much nitrogen also means that the trumpet tree prefers to put its energy into shoot growth and instead flowers. In addition, the fast-growing shoots often do not mature in time before winter, so that they eventually threaten to freeze to death. Cheap fertilizers, in particular, contain too much nitrogen, so it's worth checking the label (and therefore the ingredients) carefully.
Fertilize especially young trees and pot specimens
Older trumpet trees and those planted in the garden are usually able to provide themselves with sufficient nutrients. Here it should be sufficient to supply the tree with a little compost in the spring. Younger and not yet well-established specimens, on the other hand, should be fertilized regularly - especially if they have just been planted - they have not yet been able to develop sufficient root material for self-sufficiency and are therefore still dependent on external supplies. The same applies to tub specimens, which also cannot provide themselves with water and nutrients.
tips
To help young trumpet trees get going, you can already enrich the soil with organic fertilizers at the time of planting. For this purpose, mix the excavation with compost and/or horn shavings.