Most beginner gardeners have a logical question: "When to cut peonies, so as not to destroy the plant and get the maximum number of bright buds in the new year?" There are several simple, but mandatory conditions, the implementation of which will provide the front garden with these fluffy representatives of the flora.
For enhanced flowering
The first two years of life on the site, peonies need to completely remove the emerging buds. It is this “barbaric” approach that allows us to stimulate the accelerated growth of the entire plant and, as a result, obtain more plentiful flowering in the future. If the goal is to provide your house or shop with large peonies on a long leg, then all the buds appearing below the top are removed as soon as they reach the size of a small pea. On the contrary, if you need to get bright, lushly flowering bushes on the site, all the ovaries should be left in their places.
When peonies are pruned after flowering
Once the last petal of the bud has withered, you need to remove the entire head. The flower is removed along with part of the stem, making a cut in the region of the first most developed leaf. Usually professional flower growers recommend leaving a small stump or the entire stem until the fall. If a tree variety of this plant is cultivated, then to increase the size of the flowers, up to a third of the buds on each stem are removed.
Determining when to cut peonies, you need to remember that young buds develop and grow due to the beneficial nutrients that the leaves produce. Therefore, you should not cut the shoots without buds - at least 50% of the shoots should always be left on each bush.
To accurately determine the time when peonies can be trimmed, in the second half of October or in November, the behavior of the stems is monitored. As soon as they die during the first frosts, they are cut off at ground level. This method is used for grassy varieties of peonies. If young buds were bare during pruning, then the bushes must be bumped to a height of 7-10 cm. Tree-like species begin to "cut" for 3-4 years of life. Experienced gardeners know when to cut peonies of similar varieties - either in spring or in autumn. For the first such procedure, October-November is chosen, when the young stems have not yet had time to develop, but spare buds have already appeared. Further pruning is carried over to spring, when all old and damaged, weakened shoots are removed, cutting them to the ground level.
When to prune peonies: common mistakes of beginners
You can not remove the shoots very early. Such a miscalculation may occur due to a plant transplant to a new location or the annual division of the bush. Cut stems begin to grow very quickly, and to frost the peony can dissolve microboutons.
On the one hand, winter flowers are a rarity and beauty, but on the other hand, you need to understand that a bush can die after such untimely germination.
If you trim later than the recommended time, rhizomes can rot. In cold areas, you can remove overhead shoots at the end of September, but in the middle lane it is better to give preference to classical care and postpone the event until October-November. And one more nuance: if you cut peonies unlimitedly (to decorate a room or for sale), few new buds will be formed for collection next year.