Peonies: care after winter, spring, summer, tips from experienced gardeners

Caring for peonies in the spring is the key to active and lush flowering of these plants in the summer. The first activities are usually carried out after the snow melts in the garden, and young shoots begin to appear on the beds. In the spring, it is important to properly release peonies from shelter, organize the correct watering and fertilizing regime for them, and properly loosen and mulch the soil. It is also necessary to take care of the health of the bushes, paying attention to preventive treatment against diseases. A set of care measures, begun in the spring, should be continued in the summer, when the plants have already bloomed. If you follow all the recommendations given by experienced gardeners and follow their advice, the peonies on the site will remain beautiful, healthy and lush for decades.

Care for peonies after winter

Caring for peonies in the spring in a country house or garden plot should be started even before the first shoots appear on the beds. First of all, they remove the shelter from the landings, inspect the condition of the bushes after the winter, remove dry shoots and garbage from the beds. In the spring, peony sprouts appear, then leaves, buds form, and finally flowering begins. At this stage, they begin to systematically water and feed them, as well as loosen the soil and, if necessary, get rid of weeds.

Care for peonies in the spring begins even before the appearance of young sprouts on the beds

When and how to open peonies after winter

Spring care for peonies growing on the site usually begins with the removal of covering material, which provided plants wintering in open ground with protection from frost and low temperatures. It is necessary to remove the shelter from the landings, waiting for the snow to melt, the soil to thaw and the return of night frosts to stop.

This must be done gradually:

1. First, you need to carefully remove the mulch (dry foliage, sawdust) from the root neck of the peony, lifting a layer of coniferous spruce branches or agrofiber.
2. The top cover should be removed a little later, making sure that a stable “plus” temperature has been established and giving the plants the opportunity to gradually get used to the surrounding conditions.
3. If dry stems are found under the cover, remaining from the previous year due to insufficiently low pruning of the bush, they should be removed so that a new generation of young shoots can grow freely.
4. Further care consists in removing debris and lumps of hardened soil from the bed, as well as gently loosening the soil between small reddish sprouts.

First watering and feeding

An important step in caring for peonies in the spring in the country is the organization of abundant watering. At the stage of bud formation, growth of shoots and leaves, plants require a large amount of moisture, so the gardener must ensure that it is enough.

In spring and summer, peonies need regular, not very frequent, but plentiful watering.

Care for peonies in the form of regular watering should begin when dry weather sets in. As a rule, it is enough to perform this procedure once every 1-7 days, spending 10 to 2 buckets of water on each bush, depending on its size.

Basic rules:

• prevent the soil from drying out under the peonies and the formation of a hard crust on its surface;
• it is desirable that the water is warm;
• when watering, moisture should not fall on the leaves of the plant;
• it is desirable to make holes around the bushes so that the water soaks the soil better;
• care of the soil at the roots after watering consists in its obligatory loosening to ensure better access to oxygen;
• peonies need to be watered before the beginning of September.

Mandatory care measures for peonies in the spring include fertilizing the bushes with organic and mineral substances. The approximate procedure for applying fertilizers is as follows:

1. At the stage of swelling of the shoots, approximately at the end of March, rotted manure (5 l) or a complex nitrogen-potassium composition (20 g) is embedded in the soil under each peony bush. Fertilizer is evenly distributed inside the hole at a distance of about 15-20 cm from the plant itself. After that, the soil is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet, covered with a 4-centimeter layer of compost to retain moisture and watered with clean water.
2. 20 days later, peonies are fed with complex mineral compounds. You can choose a ready-made fertilizer with a predominant content of phosphorus and potassium, or prepare the mixture yourself by dissolving 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of potassium salt and 30 g of superphosphate in a bucket of water.
3. After the appearance of the first sprouts, it is desirable to diversify the care of peonies by introducing foliar dressings. It is advised to spray the shoots and leaves three times per season with an interval of 10-15 days. Initially, it is recommended to use an aqueous solution of urea (40 g per bucket), then the same composition with the addition of a tablet with microelements, and, finally, only microelements dissolved in water.

In the spring-summer period, it is important to properly organize the introduction of root and foliar dressings.

How to care for peonies in spring and summer

Caring for peonies in the summer largely continues the activities begun in the spring. It is also aimed at maintaining the health of the bush and achieving its abundant flowering.

Preventive treatments

When caring for peonies in spring and summer, one should not forget about disease prevention.

So, the first treatment against fungi is carried out immediately after the snow melts, watering the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate (1-2 g per 5 liters of water).

At the stage of leaf deployment in mid-May, prevention of damage to pions by bortrix, or gray rot, is carried out by spraying the plant and the soil around the bush with solutions of copper preparations (HOM, copper sulfate, Borodos mixture 0,5%).

The second treatment with the same drugs against gray rot and rust is carried out after 10-15 days.

Caring for peonies involves another spraying with fungicides – after flowering has ended.

Loosening and mulching the soil

A set of measures for the care of peonies in the spring at the dacha or in an open garden plot also includes systematic loosening of the soil. Usually it is performed using a flat cutter or cultivator, stepping back about 3-5 cm from the shoots of the bush. It is necessary to loosen the soil to a depth of 5 cm, carefully so as not to damage the shoots.

The rules for caring for peonies in spring and summer involve loosening the soil after each watering or heavy rain, in parallel with the removal of weeds (if necessary). It is also recommended that you perform this action:

• in mid-April, after the mass emergence of seedlings;
• in the middle or end of May, when budding begins;
• at the beginning of August.

Every time after watering or rain, you should carefully loosen the soil under the peony bushes.

Mulching the soil in the spring is advised to better retain moisture and heat, as well as to prevent the emergence of weeds. For these purposes, it is best to use a small layer of rotted manure. Straw or rotted leaves are also often used, but they can cause an outbreak of fungal diseases.

Tips from experienced gardeners for caring for peonies in spring

It is worth taking into account some additional recommendations from experienced gardeners on how to care for peonies in the spring so that they grow well and bloom luxuriantly:

• if a lot of water appears during the period of snow melting, it is advisable to temporarily dig special drainage grooves near the peony bushes, which will remove excess moisture from the roots;
• it is recommended to remove the top shelter at the beginning of spring in cloudy weather in order to avoid sharp exposure to sunlight on young shoots;
• watering peonies is best in the early morning or evening, waiting for the sunset;
• when fertilizing the sheet, you can add a little soap or washing powder to the composition so that the drops do not roll down too quickly;
• to avoid breaking off shoots in strong winds, peony bushes of herbaceous varieties or those that produce large flowers are usually surrounded by a strong support of pegs with crossbars;
• Experienced gardeners do not recommend tying pion shoots, because of this, most of the buds may simply not open;
• in order for the flowers to be large and lush, at the end of May, about a third of the ovaries are usually removed, and the side buds are also cut off.

A strong support around the peony bush will not allow the shoots to break from strong winds or under the weight of flowers

You can also learn about the main secrets and subtleties of caring for peonies in the spring from the video:

Conclusion

Caring for peonies in spring and summer consists in the gradual removal of winter shelter and cleaning the beds, organizing systematic watering, applying root and foliar dressings, and preventing the most common diseases. The soil under the bushes must be mulched and periodically loosened, and if necessary, weed out. For the best flowering, it is recommended to remove some of the ovaries at the end of spring, and in order to preserve the integrity of the shoots, it is advisable to build a strong and convenient support for the bushes. The measures and subtleties of caring for peonies in spring and summer, which are based on the experience of experienced gardeners, will help maintain the beauty and health of these plants in the garden in order to admire their lush flowering for a long time.