Every year I forget to fertilize until after I spread mulch, and then I have to move the mulch out of the way around every single plant, sprinkle fertilizer, then cover it back again. At this point we probably have 100 plants, and the thought of fertilizing that way makes me want to cry.
This year I did not repeat that mistake. I spent this morning fertilizing all the beds, and I was just putting the bag away when the first load of mulch arrived. I also edged the back bed, divided the hostas, planted a vervain, and stopped to admire our rhodedendrons and the violets that pop up out back every spring.
Once the mulch arrived, I procrastinated by eating a snack. It’s a lot of mulch.
After spreading 10 wheelbarrows full, it doesn’t look like I’ve done a thing.
Good thing I’m taking the whole week off to do this 😬.
Andrea's Gardening Blog 
Mulch gets drawn downward into the soil as it ionizes. If topdressed (on the surface of the mulch) it leaches downward with water. There is no need to put it under the mulch. The mulch will only absorb it if the mulch is too fresh. That is why I tell those planting new plants that there is no need to put fertilizer into a planting hole. Such fertilizer dissolves and leaches downward out of the reach of the confined roots. It should be applied over the top surface of the soil.
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Of course, there is no problem with putting it on the surface oft he soil prior to covering it with mulch.
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