Mature plants

Trees also differ in their global growth, depending on whether the plant is young or mature. The physiology of young trees is different than in older trees. Young trees tend to grow faster and for longer periods of time. Some plants can double in size in one year. Many mature trees grow a little in spring and stop growing in the middle of summer and really starts to get numb. (Older trees tend to slow down. Obviously, a tree that doubles in size every year would be incredibly huge, this rate is maintained for many years). The addition of fertilizer will not make a tree that is going to numbness, to grow again. The amount and timing of nutrient absorption will be very different in a tree older than a young tree and only the increased levels of nutrients in the soil does not change that too.
Absorption rates according to the species
Plant roots also differ substantially in their ability to absorb various nutrients. For example, the absorption capacity of magnesium can be up to 60 times greater in one than in another plant. This is a tremendous difference. In addition, the ability to absorb a nutrient can be adversely affected by high levels of another. The response to higher levels of nutrients is not equal and, again, high levels of fertilizer can lead to nutritional imbalances and uneven growth that can cause health problems, with their trees.
And finally …
These are some of the reasons that a simple equation of “more fertilizer = more growth” is not true. For a simple analogy, I can make my son grow, making him eat the whole meal (and as much as I do)? He will only use so much food that it needs to grow and the rest will be stored as fat. He will not grow.
I can assure that the individual absorbs enough nutrients to grow as much as you can, but no more. I can certainly handle the growth limiting nutrient (the old fashioned bonsai cultivation).
Neither son, nor father, nor do I need as much food as a teenager, and we should not get it.
Obviously the overfeeding of these individuals is not only wasteful, but can be harmful as well. There is an old saying “All things in moderation,” and this certainly applies to human life, as well as the levels of fertilizer for Bonsai.