 put the fertilizer on. You do not have to move the mulch. You can't do that for a hundred plants. Your back will hurt. So what you do is you put the granular fertilizer on top of the mulch, put it near the drip line, just inside the drip line. The drip line is where the ends of the branches are. Go say, let's say six or seven or eight inches inside of that drip line and put your fertilizer there and then take the hose and water it in.