Peonies Done Blooming? Don’t Make These 5 Mistakes, by The Easy Yard on YouTube. 20 min 52 s.
- Video length
- 20 min 52 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Cut off each faded flower head just above the first set of leaves on the stem. Leave the rest of the stem and all the green leaves in place.
Leave healthy green foliage on the plant all summer. It feeds the roots for next year's blooms, so do not cut it back after flowering.
Pull back piled-up mulch and compost so the crown sits at or just below the soil surface. A buried crown gives you leaves but few flowers.
Skip high-nitrogen fertilizer this year. Too much nitrogen pushes soft leaves instead of blooms. A light top-dressing of compost is enough.
Water deeply only during real dry spells, soaking the soil around the roots. Let it dry a little before you water again.
Work out which peony you have: herbaceous types die back to the ground, tree peonies keep woody stems, and Itoh types are a cross of both.
Wait until late fall, after the first frost, to cut back herbaceous peonies. Cut the dead stems to about 2 to 3 inches above the soil.
For tree peonies, remove only dead or damaged wood in spring. Never cut the woody framework down to the ground.
Cut Itoh peonies back in fall like herbaceous types, leaving a few inches of stem. Clear away fallen leaves to reduce disease.
Tips and common mistakes
Light daily sprinkling wastes water and gives shallow roots; one deep soak a week is better.
If a peony has plenty of leaves but no flowers, check the crown depth and nitrogen first.
Clean your pruners between plants so you don't pass disease from one to the next.
Questions
Should I cut my peony back after it blooms?
No. Remove only the faded flower heads. The green leaves need to stay through summer to build energy for next spring.
When should I cut back peonies for winter?
In late fall, after frost has blackened the foliage. Herbaceous and Itoh peonies get cut to a few inches, while tree peonies are only tidied.
Why did my peony not bloom this year?
Common causes are a crown buried too deep, too much nitrogen, or cutting the foliage too early the year before.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
