How to bonemeal a tree on minecraft?

Put the bone meal in your hand, and then I believe it is right click to apply it to a sappling.

A sappling, unlike other plants, is not guaranteed to grow when you hit them with bone meal. (They used to be, but that is no longer the case.) It could take quite a few uses to get a tree to grow, and the tree won't grow at all if it doesn't have enough space.

It needs space and maybe like 3 or 2 or 1 bone meal.