At this time of year it's getting cold and as soil temps lower, biological activity slows and in near frozen ground for all intents and purposes it stops. In other words the soil isn't 'eating' so adding organic matter isn't feeding the soil in the immediate sense.

The nutrient value in the organic matter requires biological activity to make it available to plants so the nutrients aren't going to be released with biological activity pausing for the winter.

The question then is will the organic matter be there in the spring when the soil 'wakes up'? The pellets will likely become mush as soon as they absorb moisture. If they are on top of the soil and the soil gets runoff from rains/melting snow then it may end up benefiting the 'downstream' neighbor rather than staying put.

Worked into the surface of the soil or mulched over with leaves as you said was your intent should be fine.

Thanks for your help.... :-)

Best results lay it down after you plant any new bulbs which was hmmmm last week this week (I'm zone 6 here too lol)
Your a week behind me so Ill let you go to catch up be good have a safe and happy winter

You have the same steps I do so we will only have to wait for them crocus to come up before removing them leaves little by slow

You won't spur the plants into growth at the wrong time. Plants use triggers like length of darkness, temp etc to do their thing, not nutrients in the soil.

There is a huge body of evidence to support the benefit of fall fertilizing, as the roots of many plants are in active growth at this time of year and they are better able to metabolize nutrients now than at any other time during the growing season. They build up sugars as energy reserves to carry them through the dormant period and prepare for spring growth. In most areas, soils remain warm enough well into late fall for the soil organisms to continue to actively process organic inputs. But the caution with this is to apply fertilizers with low N levels and focus on the P and K.

FWIW, manipulating nutrients (as well as light and temps) is how growers force plants into growth and bloom out of season.

btw, alfalfa meal stores well and retains its effectiveness. Just make sure it is stored in a sealed container and in a cool, dry place. Moisture and oxygen combined with the meal can have combustible results.

Thank you all. It's so nice that there are so many people interested in soil and organics and are so knowledgeable!

I would not choose to put down alfalfa meal at this time of year. Soils are still warm enough for soil organisms to be active and alfalfa is a fast decomposer. And since it is primarily nitrogen, you may very well generate additional stem/foliar growth in plants at this time of year that will not have sufficient time to harden off before seriously cold weather hits.

It's my understanding that this is a myth ;)

Nutrients don't make plants grow, sun and appropriate temps do. How would nitrogen or any other nutrient in the soil make a plant grow when it's environmental triggers are telling it to slow down or in the case of roses, go dormant?

More than likely there is already N in the soil, but plants still enter dormancy. The presence of N can't make a plant grow when the environmental triggers are causing it to prepare for/enter dormancy.

As a concrete example, consider a cool season lawn in the fall. It's common to wait until the lawn is still green, but no longer growing and then add the final N application of the year. This results in the roots taking up the N, but it doesn't induce new growth until spring.

Where am I going wrong? ;)

As far as I know you don't want to encourage above ground growth late in the season with perennials.

As a hobby gardener I would have assumed much the same theories as you, however my experience working with professional growers has lead me to conclude otherwise. Dormancy in plants can be delayed, sometimes eliminated or cut short early by the timing of fertilizer applications. Growers do it all the time to get plants to market ahead of season or even in the off season. Sometimes it involves other greenhouse conditions (manipulations of heat and light) but it also happens with other hardy plants in unheated, unlighted greenhouse conditions.

It is also well documented that plant roots will continue to assimilate nutrients until the soil is too cold for them to do so. Dirk Muntean, a biology consultant for Soil and Plant Laboratory, Inc. in Bellevue, WA, explains it this way: "Those roots are taking up nutrients in the soil throughout the fall until the soil temperatures drop low enough to inhibit root function." And that doesn't happen until quite late into the winter season. That's why along with all the recommendations one sees for fall fertilizing, there is also the caution to utilize low nitrogen formulations - the emphasis is on root growth, not top growth. Even fall and winter blends of lawn fertilizers have lower nitrogen concentrations than do spring and summer blends.

FWIW, dormancy in plants is relative.....in some cases, plants will continue to grow and photosynthesize throughout the winter months or what we think of as the dormant period - broadleaf evergreens, conifers, many groundcovers, cool season grasses (I've had to mow my lawn in midwinter!), any winter blooming plant, etc. The growth may not be nearly as apparent as it would be during the typical growing season but it is still taking place.

Obviously, much of this will be highly dependent on the specific plant and the specific growing conditions, but in many areas fall is plenty warm enough and soil temps remain high enough to prolong the growing season or even encourage a rapid, nitrogen-infused flush of new growth that will be vulnerable when cold weather finally does set in.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about this with most organic sources of nitrogen.....they are just too slow acting to have a significant impact - but alfalfa meal (and blood meal) are extremely fast acting as far as organics go and IMO, are better utilized in spring or during the primary growing season. Excess nitrogen applications - and alfalfa meal is pretty much all nitrogen - can also inhibit root growth, which is the entire purpose of fertilizing in fall