All about Fall. All about Peonies. What to consider and how to plant.

Fall is the busiest time for peony farming, planting new roots, digging and dividing roots for others, cutting down foliage, and prepping for winter. This newsletter covers the basics on planting.

Choosing a location

Peonies perform optimally with a sunny location, adequate water drainage, and plenty

of air flow around the plant, to allow full growth and disease. Plant roots three feet from each other and from any other plantings.

When these considerations are taken in mind, it is likely that your plant will do very well with very little care for many years.

Planting

Planting a peony root correctly is the single most important factor for ensuring vigorous

spring growth with flowers. A hole should be dug twice as wide and deep as the tuber

itself. Prior to placing the root, backfill the hole with garden soil, allowing the tuber to sit

just below the surface of the soil, and at the top of the hole. The root should be covered

with garden soil,1-2" covering the top of the plant or the 'eyes'. These are the growing

portion of the plant that require cold winter temps and early spring sun, so don’t bury

them too deep. For brand new plantings, you might consider placing a layer of straw on

top of the root to keep it from heaving out of the ground with freeze and thaw during the

winter months. Check out this video to help.

Care and consideration

If you live in a location with nutrient rich soil, it is unlikely your soil will need to be

amended or fertilized. Get a soil test performed before throwing on fertilizers, you want

to make sure that you don’t over fertilize. If you soil is heavy in clay, consider amending with garden soil.

What you can expect

Peonies are an investment in time and patience. It will take 3 years for your plant to be at mature size and full of flowers. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t see flowers the

first year, it’s unlikely that you will. You’ll be rewarded, exponentially, for your patience, enjoying an abundance of flowers for decades.

Interested in a printable download. Please head on over to my website. Guides for Planting | Julie Pal Peonies