Dr. JimZ Organic Gardening Fertilizer Earns National Home Gardening Club Seal of Approval

Organic Gardening Benefits Include Flourishing Fruit Trees, Easy Use, Safety Around Children & Pets

MINNETONKA, Minn.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Save-a-Tree, the flagship of the Dr. JimZ Secret Formula line of organic gardening products, has received the National Home Gardening Club’s “Member Tested & Recommended Seal of Approval.”

“One month later the trees have held onto their fruit and are showing new growth.”

More than 100 members of the National Home Gardening Club’s consumer panels tested the organic gardening fertilizer, especially popular for fruit trees, over a three-month period.

“The product saved my roses,” said Heather Brauen of Indianapolis. “The leaves were falling off, but with a little bit of Save-a-Tree, the leaves are back and the roses are in full bloom.”

Rose Poole of Bauxite, Ark., used Save-a-Tree after she accidentally sprayed weed killer on her golden euonymus shrubs. “I thought I had killed them,” she said. ”But after three applications of Save-a-Tree, they have come back taller and more beautiful than before.”

“I received this product days after hurricanes caused severe damage to several of my citrus fruit trees and ornamental shrubs,” said Beth Gnuse of New Orleans. “One month later the trees have held onto their fruit and are showing new growth.”

The story of Save-a-Tree began more than 20 years ago when Boise nursery owner Jim Zamzow, whose friends affectionately dubbed him “Dr. Jim” because of his constant experimentation, started giving customers at his Idaho nursery a brown liquid organic fertilizer in used two-liter soda bottles.

The product was so successful, especially for growing fruit trees and improving soil in the vegetable garden, that customers soon had to bring their own bottles. By mid-summer the 55-gallon drum that contained the experimental batch was empty. Zamzow named the product Save-a-Tree, and started selling it.

Last year customers bought more than 90,000 gallons.

In addition to saving all kinds of trees, including fruit trees, the organic fertilizer helps vegetables, flowers and shrubs.

Although Save-a-Tree is perhaps best known for its effectiveness on fruit trees, its most famous success story was in 1999 when the Harrison Tree, planted near the Idaho Capitol building in Boise in 1891 by President Benjamin Harrison, was dying and scheduled to be cut down. Dr. Jim donated Save-A-Tree. Even he said the tree had only a 50-50 chance of survival. However, the tree returned to health and grew more in one year than it had in the past three years combined. Unfortunately, it was later cut down to make room for the Capitol building’s expansion.

Save-a-Tree’s base is sugar cane molasses, selected because it smells good, does not attract ants and discourages nematodes, a type of parasitic worm. Ingredients include nitrogen, phosphate and sulfur. Additional components of the organic fertilizer are a secret, but include “just about everything that Dad’s research has shown to be beneficial to plants,” said Jos Zamzow, vice president of TerraLife and Dr. Jim’s son.

All ingredients are natural, and there are no animal byproducts. Save-a-Tree is manufactured in Nampa, Idaho, and all ingredients are made in the United States for better quality control. Products are tested on vegetables and fruit trees at an organic gardening test farm in Emmett, Idaho.

Unlike many fertilizers, Save-a-Tree is safe to use around children, pets and fish, and does not affect ground water. “It stays where you put it,” Zamzow explained. “To our knowledge, it is the only manufactured non-leaching organic fertilizer in the world.”

Tests by microbiologists at Boise State University showed that 24 hours after an application of Save-a-Tree, there was an increase of 70 percent in beneficial bacteria in the soil. After a week, there was a 400 percent increase.

Traditional fertilizers, Zamzow noted, are aimed at quick growth. “You can force-feed a plant by applying high doses of water-soluble fertilizer, and get a 10-foot tall tomato plant or rose bush. But the quality of the roses or the tomatoes may not be what you want. Plants like roses may become more susceptible to aphids, because rapid growth means thin cell walls, and it is easier for the aphids to attack. Today's organic gardeners understand this.”

The Zamzow family has been in the nursery and animal feed business for almost 75 years, and was among the pioneers in studying fruit tree production and organic gardening products.

Additional information is available, and individual orders may be placed on the Internet at www.DrJimZ.com or by calling 1.866.855.9552. Save-a-Tree costs $24.95 for a one-gallon container.

The National Home Gardening Club, founded in 1996, has approximately 675,000 members. Save-a-Tree is featured in the current issue of the club’s magazine, Gardening How-To.

Release Summary:

Save-a-Tree, flagship organic gardening product, has received the National Home Gardening Club's Member Tested & Recommended Seal of Approval. It is especially effective on fruit trees.

Keyword Tags:

fertilizer, fruit trees, organic gardening