To help a budding floriculturist: when to cut off peonies

For most novice florist arisesa legitimate question: "When to trim the 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 fulfillment of which will be provided by the front garden by these fluffy representatives of the flora.

For enhanced flowering

The first two years of life on the site need peoniesin complete removal of buds that appear. It is this “barbaric” approach that allows you to stimulate accelerated growth of the whole plant and, as a result, more abundant flowering in the future. If the goal is to secure your home or shop with large peonies on a long leg, then all buds that appear 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, lush flowering bushes on the site, all the ovaries should be left in their places.

When the peonies are pruned after flowering

As soon as the last petal of a bud has faded, you needremove the whole head. The flower is removed along with a part of the stem, making a cut in the region of the first most developed leaf. Typically, professional growers recommend leaving a small stump or the entire stem until the autumn. If a tree variety of this plant is cultivated, then up to a third of the buds on each stem will be removed to increase the size of the flowers.

When deciding when to trim peonies, you need to rememberthat young buds develop and grow with the beneficial nutrients that the leaves produce. Therefore, it is not necessary to prune the shoots without buds - you should always leave at least 50% of the shoots on each bush.

Чтобы точно определить время, когда можно pruned peonies; in the second half of October or in November, monitor the behavior of the stems. As soon as they fall under the first frost, they are cut off at ground level. This method is used for grassy varieties of peonies. If the young buds were bare during pruning, the bushes must be riddled to a height of 7-10 cm. Tree-like species begin to cut for 3-4 years of life. Experienced growers know when to trim the peonies of these 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 transferred to the spring, when they remove all old and damaged, weakened shoots, cutting them to the ground level.

When to trim peonies: frequent mistakes beginners

You can not delete shoots very early.Such a miscalculation may occur due to a transplant of a plant to a new place or the annual division of a bush. Cut stems begin to grow very quickly, and by frost the peony can dissolve microbutons.

On the one hand, winter flowers are a rarity and beauty, but on the other hand, it is necessary to understand that the bush can die after such an untimely germination.

If you prune later than recommendedterms - may rot rhizomes. In cold areas, you can remove above-ground shoots at the end of September, but in the middle lane it is better to give preference to classical care and to postpone the event to October-November. And one more thing: if you cut unlimited peonies (for decorating a room or for sale), few new buds will be created for collection next year.