Planting Peonies

Planting Peonies – 101

Peonies are great additions to any garden or property. Planting peonies close together will result in a fine informal hedge effect. This is particularly great when wanting a slight divider between lawns, for driveways or as shrub-like accents for annual flowers. Peonies can replace low growing shrubs in places where snow may be a concern, as the tops are taken away in the autumn season.

Planting Peonies at the Best Time

Peony gardeners dig their peonies in the autumn season and this is absolutely the best time of year to employ them in your garden. A peony planted in the early autumn will have the chance to show a sufficient amount of feeder roots preceding the following spring. Generally, fall planted divisions that have had many weeks of developing time before the cold winter thrive better than the next year compared to those that have had less time to grow new roots. This is especially vital if the spring is dry and hot.

Planting Peonies in the Best Places

When choosing an area to plant peonies search for a site of ground that receives 6 to 8 hours of sun per day. Consider planting peonies away from woody plants, as peonies can often struggle when other plants compete for water and nutrients from the same ground. Furthermore, also try not planting peonies too close too each other. Clumps should not be closer than 3 feet apart. This is so clumps can each take sufficient amounts of nutrients from the soil.

Finally Planting Peonies

Planting peonies in well-drained and fertile garden soil will help your peonies live well and last longer. Plant them under complete sunlight. If the soil is less than adequate in terms of nutrition, dig out a hole that is about 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide, and load it back up with fertile topsoil for every plant. Then, fill up the roots and pat the soil slightly to eliminate air pockets that could possibly cause the peonies to dry out. Moisten the soil with water.

When aged, established peony clumps become too packed, blooming may be minimized and the roots must be divided. In September, clip the stems by the ground surface and burrow the roots cautiously with a spading fork. Shake the roots to take out baggy soil and then flush out most of the soil. Flushing the soil out helps you find the natural crown cleavage areas so that not many of the fleshy roots are vanished while dividing the clumps. Every division must have 3 to 5 buds connected to 3 or 4 broad roots.

For fertilization, about two tablespoons of fertilizer will do well when mixed into the soil around every established plant in late autumn or early spring. Make sure that the fertilizer is 12 inches apart from the stems of the peonies.

After planting peonies, always remember to water them right away. This is so that soil can set well at the roots. During the months of spring, there is often sufficient levels of moisture in the ground for these plants, but if there has been a considerable set of days without rain, water the plants once every 14 days. You should also do the same thing during the dry summer season after the peonies have flowered.