Many gardens are decorated with peonies. This causes envy and admiration among passers-by and neighbors. It is believed that growing peonies is not so difficult, but in fact, many beginners complain that the flowering is weak. They do not know the answer to the question of when to cut peonies for the winter?
Mistakes by gardeners when pruning peonies
There are heated debates on this issue both in social networks and between neighbors. After all, if you look, then many prune almost immediately after flowering, while others expect frosts. So which of them is right when to cut peonies for the winter? Many flowers in the summer are affected by various diseases, such as gray rot. Caring owners, seeing that the bush has bloomed, immediately cut out the entire aboveground part, naively believing that he no longer needs the foliage. Thus, the most gross mistake is made. After the flowering period, the laying of flower buds begins. And many gardeners, when it is necessary to prune peonies in case of their illness, get too carried away and cut flowers too much. Experts recommend harvesting a maximum of a third of the stem without affecting the lower leaves. This is due to the fact that regeneration buds are formed at the base of the flowering plant. When they are affected, they become weak due to the lack of nutrition that is known to occur through the leaves.
But what do experts recommend? When to cut peonies for the winter? During the preparation of the bush for the winter period, you must first top-dress the root system. For this, phosphate-potassium fertilizers are used.
Adult bushes of tree-like peonies should be covered for the winter, so that the flower buds are not damaged by frost. You can use agrofibre or other fabric, spruce. But in any case, the basal part must be covered with earth and carefully spilled with water. Such protection will make the bush more spreading. Whatever variety of peonies is grown - tree-like or grassy - all foliage should be removed before wintering. Maybe this is the procedure that causes so much controversy among gardeners about when to cut peonies. Only leaves should be removed, not stems. In grassy peonies, everything is under the root, and in tree peonies, two-thirds from the top. Peonies are flowers that are only trimmed with stems. Such a need arises in case of breakage or freezing.
Its “but” in this process
True, there is one “but”, and it concerns the adult bush of a tree peony. To enhance flowering in the next year after the formation of seed bolls, each branch (except one) should be shortened by three buds on top. In this case, a strong flower bud is formed in the fourth. It is also recommended to cut off all shoots to the ground every four years in autumn or spring. Thus, rejuvenation of the bush is performed.
In the question of when to cut peonies for the winter, the local climate should also be taken into account. If the flowers are grown in harsh conditions, then pruning is done in the early stages. In temperate zones, work on preparing a flower garden for winter does not begin until the end of September. The best time for procedures with peonies is October or November.