The flowering period of peonies is short-lived. For no more than 2-3 weeks they decorate the garden with their luxurious fragrant flowers. Sometimes a powerful night shower can instantly devastate a flower bed. The petals fall off, and very unattractive protruding faded heads remain on the bushes, which over time turn into star-shaped seed pods. They also have their own charm, but they cannot be called particularly decorative.
At the end of flowering, the peony bush is no longer so beautiful, and some novice gardeners cut off all the foliage at the root as unnecessary. They motivate this by the fact that now there is nothing to expect from the plant, it is not needed until the next season and only interferes with other flowering crops. But doing this is highly not recommended.
A fading peony bush loses its sophistication and decorativeness.
Photosynthesis occurs in the leaves, so removing them deprives the plant of a significant proportion of its nutrients. The bush will survive, but it will be weak and there is no point in expecting abundant flowering from it next season. A faded plant actively accumulates useful substances in the rhizome and lays growth flower buds of renewal, from which new flower stalks will develop next year. Over the next 1.5-2 months, the stems are a source of nutrition.
If you cut out the leaves completely immediately after flowering every year, the peony will gradually wither and die.
After the tender petals have fallen or withered, the bare flower heads can be cut back to the first strong leaf. If you do not plan to propagate peonies from seeds, then you do not need to wait for the boxes to ripen.
In place of peony flowers, seed boxes are formed
There are situations when spreading peony bushes not only lose their marketable appearance, but also grow too much. They shade the flower crops growing nearby in the flowerbed and prevent them from developing normally. In this case, the crown can be trimmed, but it is necessary to leave at least 2-3 leaves on each branch. At the same time, shoots that did not bloom this year do not need to be touched at all.
On our site, several peony bushes grow along the garden path, lined with paving slabs. When plants fade, the branches often bend, fall under your feet and interfere with walking. Tying it up doesn’t look very nice, so we got used to carefully trimming the bushes into a rectangle shape, but only after the flowers had fallen. Before flowering, the hand does not rise to trim unopened buds.
Dried inflorescences signal that the crucial moment for the formation of new buds has arrived. At this time, the crop must be fed. Peonies respond equally well to mineral and organic fertilizers. But moderation should be observed; overfeeding plants is also harmful.
Fertilizers are applied in liquid form into special furrows made around the peony bush
Approximately 10-15 days after the petals fall, the following feeding is carried out:
All fertilizers are applied into special grooves made at the base of the bush. They should not be allowed to get into the middle of the rhizome.
For foliar feeding, mineral complexes in tablets are used.
At the same time, you can carry out foliar feeding of the peony to improve its decorative qualities and better development of renewal buds. To do this, we use any tableted micronutrient complexes that are diluted according to the instructions. They are sold at any flower or gardening store.
For good development, plants need regular watering to maintain a moderate level of soil moisture. Lack of moisture will lead to the formation of weakened buds, which will result in poor flowering in the future. This is especially important if the weather is dry and hot. Watering is carried out at least once every 7-10 days; each bush should require from 10 to 30 liters of water (depending on age). Spray generously throughout the entire root system around the perimeter, and not just its central part.
Peonies need to be watered not only during flowering, but also after it.
Watering stops completely only with the onset of autumn.
Proper care involves regular removal of weeds, loosening the soil under the bushes after each watering or rain, as well as mulching with humus, grass clippings, sawdust, etc.
At the end of flowering under the peony bushes, you also need to remove weeds and loosen the soil
Strongly overgrown bushes become too spreading and lose their decorative effect, so they need to be divided and planted. For propagation, plants no younger than 4-5 years old are used. Peonies cannot be replanted in summer; it is best to do this in autumn.
Peonies are best replanted in the fall
The technology is like this:
First, the peony bush is dug up
First, the peony bush is loosened with a pitchfork or shovel, and then with your hands.
Peony bush taken out of the ground
It is better to wash off the remaining soil from the peony rhizome with a stream of water.
The peony bush is dried a little in the air so that the roots become more elastic.
Using a sharp knife or ax, the peony bush is divided into several parts.
Places of cuts after division are sprinkled with wood ash
When planting, the root collar of the peony is buried 3-5 cm
In herbaceous peonies, the shoots die off in the fall. Therefore, all stems are completely cut off with the arrival of frost, leaving small stumps about 2-3 cm high.
The peony bush is completely pruned only in the fall.
The pruning procedure is not carried out with shrub and tree varieties of peonies.. They have thick, powerful tree-like stems that do not freeze in winter. Autumn pruning is contraindicated for them, since the most abundant flowering is formed on the shoots of last year. These peonies undergo spring sanitary pruning, when damaged, dead and weak branches are removed. Formative pruning is carried out every few years.
The tree peony has thick, woody branches that do not freeze in winter.
The crop requires proper preparation for frost. Thanks to a number of events, many beautiful flowers will appear next year. For winter, peonies should be pruned at a certain period of time. A premature procedure will deprive the plant of essential nutrients, and a late procedure can cause death.
Peonies should be pruned twice: after flowering and in the fall. In the first case, you need to wait until all the inflorescences have faded. If you take your time with the procedure, more beautiful flowers will appear next year. Exceptions are the need to grow seeds or increase the size of the inflorescence. You can obtain seed material only after waiting for the capsules to fully ripen. To grow large buds, leave 2-3 top flowers.
Autumn pruning of peonies is also required so that in winter the plants do not waste energy on the above-ground part instead of developing the root system. Another reason is fungal and bacterial diseases, which often affect leaves in the fall. The need and rules for pruning depend on the type and variety.
Dried flowers can be removed after the bush has completely faded. The procedure is often carried out at the end of June and July. In autumn, postpone pruning peonies until it gets colder. An external sign of the plant’s readiness is the lowering of branches to the ground, dried, withered leaves. This indicates the end of physiological processes and readiness to overwinter without the negative impact of the environment. In case of infection, preparation for winter should be carried out earlier by treating the cutting areas and the soil around with a fungicide solution.
Beginning gardeners prune peonies as early as August. You can't do this.
The root system still needs nutrients produced through photosynthesis. The optimal time for most regions is late October or early November. You can even wait for the first autumn frosts at night.
Stems with dried flowers should not be cut off completely, but leaving 2-3 leaves on the shoot. Remove the remaining part along with the rest of the shoots. It is important to consider the type of peony - herbaceous or tree-like. Pruning before winter must be done correctly, taking into account agrotechnical recommendations and varietal characteristics.
Necessary activities:
Garden tools must be treated before use so that pathogenic infections from other crops do not penetrate through the cut sites. Simply wash and wipe with alcohol.
The remote above-ground part of peonies is a carrier of pathogens and can also serve as a home for rodents and insect larvae. For this reason, it cannot be used to insulate the root system before winter or added to compost. Cut branches must be removed from the site, dried and burned.
As fertilizers, use mineral complexes containing phosphorus and potassium, which are required for the development of roots. Nitrogen cannot be added, as it causes active growth of the above-ground part. Compost and rotted humus can be added closer to frost, because they are nitrogen-containing additives. Peonies love bone meal; when preparing for winter, you can add 1 cup to each bush. Wood ash is used as a fertilizer, a protective agent against diseases, and must be sprinkled on the surface of the earth and cuttings. Autumn feeding will make it easier to bear pruning and promote renewal of the root system.
Peonies are frost-resistant plants that can withstand frosts down to -15...-34 °C. At the same time, experienced gardeners recommend insulating bushes in regions with cold winters, as well as in the absence of snow. After trimming herbaceous varieties, you can add a layer of peat, sawdust, compost or cover with spruce branches. For tree-like ones, you will have to cover the soil surface with peat, build a hut from pine branches on the remaining shoots, and wrap them with twine. To protect from moisture, cover with film, leaving air vents. Hybrids are most susceptible to freezing.
The branches of these varieties of peonies should be cut almost to the root. It is permissible to leave stumps 1-2 cm high, but no more. The instrument must be sharp, pre-disinfected, and free of soil and other plant residues. An infection can enter the bush through the cut site, which will lead to its death.
After pruning before winter, sprinkle fertilizers over the surface of the soil and loosen them, mixing the additive with the top layer of soil. It is allowed to sprinkle the resulting hemp with soil and mulch. The main thing is not to forget to remove excess cover in the spring.
Beginning gardeners sometimes prune peonies too much, removing skeletal branches. This cannot be done, since the first two years after this there will be no flowering. Tree varieties are formed or rejuvenated before winter. To give it a decorative shape, it is allowed to leave stems 70-90 cm high. In spring, many new shoots will appear. The second type of pruning can be carried out no more than once every 10 years. The need for it is noticeable by the deterioration of growth and flowering.
The technology for pruning tree peonies must not be violated. In normal preparation before winter, the woody skeleton should be left, removing only the leaves.
In the spring the procedure is repeated. This time, shoots without buds, dried, broken branches are cut off. For the purpose of rejuvenation, all healthy stems are shortened to the first bud.
Peonies need to be prepared for winter. Pruning is carried out in the fall in accordance with the varietal characteristics of the plant. It is important to disinfect working tools; after the procedure, the bushes should be fed and protected from frost. Cut branches cannot be used as insulation.
How many pleasant moments these flowers gave us! This summer, for many summer residents, they were a delight and a sight for sore eyes. The fragrant lush caps of peonies attracted the eye like a magnet. But now the bushes stand “decapitated” - the delicate fragrant petals have already flown off, and some gardeners are reaching for scissors and pruners to trim the plants. Is it worth rushing?
Experienced amateur gardener Anna Blazhko from Minsk does not recommend pruning peonies now:
After all, it is during this period that new flower buds are laid, which will ensure lush flowering next summer. In addition, now there is an accumulation of nutrients that will help the peonies develop better and not get sick, so there is no need to rush to get rid of the leaves. In addition, by cutting peonies at the root, you can noticeably weaken and even destroy the bushes of these magnificent flowers.
In order for peonies to surprise you with their exquisite beauty next year, you need to leave the lower part of the peduncle with 2-3 leaves. And cut the bush at the root only in the fall, after the onset of stable frosts. At the same time, leave stumps 2-3 cm high above the buds, covering them securely for the winter.
Now is the time to take care of peonies' nutrition, says a landscaping expert. It is known that bushes under three years of age need to be regularly watered and the soil under them loosened. And older peonies need to be fed, and this will have to be done at least three times before the end of the season. Having taken care of peonies after flowering, next summer you will not have to experience the disappointment that the flowers are weak and faded, and also noticeably crushed.
When to recharge
First feeding peonies are carried out in early spring, as soon as the snow begins to melt. 10-15 g of nitrogen and 10-20 g of potassium are poured onto the soil around the bush. When applying fertilizers, you should avoid getting fertilizers on the neck of the bush. When the fertilizers dissolve under the pressure of melt water, they will penetrate deeper into the soil and feed the peonies.
Second feeding necessary when buds are set on the bushes. This will have a beneficial effect on the shape and beauty of the flowers. For feeding you will need 15-20 g of phosphorus, 10-15 g of potassium and 8-10 g of nitrogen.
Third feeding should be done two weeks after flowering. But before this, peonies must be on a starvation diet. After this, the best fertilizer for them is potassium-phosphorus: 10-15 g of potassium and 15-20 g of phosphorus.
Transfer
If necessary, transshipment of peonies can be carried out in spring and even summer, but this does not have the best effect on them - the plants weaken and do not delight with lush flowers. Therefore, the best time to transplant bushes is the end of August - beginning of September. By this time, the bushes have time to get stronger, having accumulated enough nutrients, and the weather still allows them to take root. However, there are some subtleties here too.
It is necessary to prepare a place for a future transplant. Since the peony root system is quite heavy, you will have to dig a hole in advance with a depth of at least 50-60 cm. And be sure to trim the bush, leaving only a third of the plant. This operation should be carried out very carefully so as not to break off the roots and buds. Having dug up the bush, you need to carefully examine the roots, remove all diseased and rotten parts, and divide the remaining rhizome into several parts so that there are 5-6 buds for each division. The preparations prepared for planting are planted in a permanent place, while the topmost bud should be at a depth of at least 5 cm.
One more nuance: the soil around the transplanted peonies should not be trampled down so as not to damage the buds. After transplanting is completed, the bushes need to be watered and humus added.
WHAT NOT TO FORGET
Beauty without pauses
July is painted with bright colors. Roses are fragrant, bells are ringing, the tremulous petals of delicate clematis are blooming, loosestrife is glowing with sunlight, lychnises are pleasing to the eye... But, in addition to peonies, many other plants have already bloomed. What to do with them to make the area look well-groomed?
To ensure your flower beds are always beautiful, inspect them regularly, advises Anna Blazhko. Cut off faded heads - this will make it possible to extend the flowering period (fuchsias, lupins) or force the plants to bloom a second time (delphiniums, garden geraniums).
Tie tall perennials to stakes. Regularly check and update supports for climbing and creeping plants, and trim them. If necessary, pinch out the side buds if you want to grow one large flower (clematis, honeysuckle, roses), and, conversely, remove the central bud if you want to get many small flowers on the plant (dahlias).
Some amateur gardeners make the mistake of prematurely digging up faded but not ripe bulbs of hyacinths, tulips and daffodils. And someone decides to do this in order to replace plantings that have lost their decorative value with other plants. At the same time, the optimal time for digging is the first half of July, when the leaves have turned yellow and died. If you dig up bulbs with green, not completely dead leaves, they will turn out to be underdeveloped and will have poor disease resistance.
It is no less a mistake when the bulbs are not dug up every year. The secret is that to ripen a tulip bulb, a constant temperature of about 20 degrees is required, and for hyacinths - at least 26. In addition, when grown without digging, the bulbs quickly become buried and it is impossible to get children from them. Plants turn into weeds, and getting rid of them can be difficult.
After digging up the tulips in this area, it is necessary to plant green manure plants or decorative summer plants - such as marigolds, calendula, nasturtium, the root secretions of which suppress pathogenic microflora.
Practice shows that tulips can be cultivated in the same beds for several years in a row, subject to strict adherence to certain rules. It is necessary to inspect the tulip plantings as often as possible. The diseased plant must be removed along with the bulb, roots and adjacent soil, and the hole must be filled with a hot solution (0.5%) of potassium permanganate. The temperature of the solution can be from 70 to 100 degrees, but you must carefully ensure that when watering with this solution you do not damage the roots of neighboring plants.
CURIOUS
Probably not everyone knows that there is a relationship between the color and aroma of rose flowers. Dark roses tend to be more fragrant than light roses, and varieties with thick petals are more fragrant than those with thin ones. The aroma of roses is also affected by weather conditions. When it is cool, when the sky is overcast, the aroma of roses is weaker, and in hot and dry weather it intensifies. Researchers say that roses that grow in heavy, nutrient-rich soil smell stronger than those that grow in light, moisture-permeable soil. However, excess nutrients also slow down the formation of volatile substances and make roses less fragrant.
Anna SNEGINA
Peonies are beautiful flowers with an amazing aroma. But as the flower develops, the question arises about the need to prune it. Beginning flower growers are interested in when to prune peonies after flowering and whether it needs to be done at all.
Beginning gardeners creating a flower garden must allocate space for planting peonies. They look forward with great impatience to the first time a flower pleases with its lush bloom.
The young plant does not yet have such strength to ensure the simultaneous development and growth of the bush, as well as maintain conditions for lush flowering.
If you cut the buds, all the force will be directed to the formation of the bush. This lays the foundation for abundant flowering in future seasons.
The buds are removed in the morning or evening, without affecting the leaves and stem.
In the third year, the buds are no longer cut off. This year, flower growers will be able to admire the luxurious blooms of planted peonies for the first time.
The pruning rules determine that a small number of buds can be removed even before flowering if a tree peony is planted on the site. This minor trick will ensure the flowering of huge peonies. Experienced gardeners recommend cutting off about a third of the formed buds to obtain large flowers.
During the period of lush flowering, the peony bush attracts the attention of everyone around. After flowering is completed, the attractiveness of this plant decreases significantly.
Among the green mass of leaves and stems, protruding heads look completely unattractive, on which some of the flowers have fallen off, and some of the already withered flowers are still holding on.
Of course, at such moments you just really want to ennoble the bush, tearing off the withered buds from it, cutting off all the leaves. Some gardeners generally have a great desire to cut off the entire bush, believing that by doing this they help the bush to rejuvenate.
In fact, you can't do that. If you completely prune the plant the next year, you may not get any flowers at all. The new bush will be powerful, but will not produce buds. Over time, the plant will become weaker and more sparse.
It is impossible to prune peonies immediately after flowering, since it is at this moment that buds are formed, from which flower stalks are subsequently formed.
Only at the end of June do all peony inflorescences finally fade and fall off. Only bare flower heads remain on the bush. Here they can be removed with a small part of the stem, but only up to the first leaf blade.
It is important to remember that photosynthesis is a fairly important process for any plant. If you prune peonies, depriving them of green leaves, the process of photosynthesis as a result of exposure to sunlight simply cannot occur.
The optimal time for pruning peonies is considered to be autumn and spring. It is definitely not recommended to carry out such a procedure in summer. In the autumn, old or weakened shoots are removed from adult peonies, and undeveloped stems from young peonies.
With the arrival of the optimal period for pruning, special tools are prepared. Do not pick off leaves and remaining buds. Using the sector, neat cuts are made. It should be prepared in advance or purchased if the tool is not already available.
Before pruning, garden tools must be disinfected with alcohol or manganese solution. This preventive measure will prevent plant diseases from becoming infected.
When pruning, do not rush, as this can cause the root to be pulled out. In this case, firstly, the peony will have to be replanted, and, secondly, this will negatively affect the further development of the plant. Sometimes such carelessness can lead to the death of the bush.
If the leaves turn completely grey, you should check the peony for leaf rot infection. When affected by a nematode, the leaves lose their shape.
In such cases, it is possible to save the peony bush if:
The rules for caring for a tree peony are slightly different. The pruning procedure also has its own characteristics.
At the beginning of April, the following branches must be removed:
After the buds have blossomed, control pruning is carried out, the purpose of which is to thin out the bush. At this point, excess shoots are removed.
A tree peony can have one or more trunks. What it should be is up to the gardener himself to decide.
With the onset of autumn, tree peonies are not pruned. However, they must be covered, thus protecting them from frost in winter.
Pruning is part of the measures aimed at preparing the plant for winter.
Pruning of the ground part is carried out when the average air temperature is 5-7 degrees above zero. If you carry out this procedure earlier, you can provoke re-blooming. This will leave the plant vulnerable in winter and put it at increased risk of freezing.
If you prune too late, you can weaken the flower and cause its roots to rot.
In fact, after pruning for the winter, only small stumps should remain, the height of which can vary from three to five centimeters. On this issue, the opinions of flower growers are not clear. Some flower owners prefer to leave the stumps at 1 cm, while others generally cut them so that they are not visible above the ground.
Peonies need pruning. Since this procedure is time-limited, you need to know when to trim peonies after flowering. The information presented in the article will help you complete all agricultural work on time. Proper care will help ensure the full development of the plant and, as a result, get excellent flowering.
Some people believe that you should not touch a peony after flowering. Still, there are certain rules that should be taken into account and followed. Moreover, due to improper planting and care, the gardener is unlikely to achieve lush buds from the crop. In many areas, the soil is too poor, so it is simply impossible to do without properly planned and selected fertilizing.
To answer directly, no. After all, by cutting off the peduncle, the gardener destroys his plant with his own hands. However, during this period it urgently needs chemical elements, which it receives from the leaves and stems. Such connections help the peony to actively develop in the future.
Still, there are times when a culture refuses to bloom. So it's worth finding out why. Here are the seven most common causes of the problem:
In some regions, the ruthless operation is carried out at the end of October, and in others - in mid-November. After this, it is advisable to cover the plant with a thick layer of leaves or spruce branches.
If young peonies that are no more than 3 years old are planted on a personal plot, caring for them comes down to timely watering and loosening the soil. Older exhibits, especially 10-year-old plants, are in great need of feeding. Fertilizers are applied three times during the season:
At the same time, you should never get carried away with nitrogen fertilizers. It is important to strictly follow the instructions, taking into account the characteristics of your summer cottage and the type of soil. After all, nitrogen helps the crop gain green mass rather than set buds.
