Secrets Of Beautiful Peonies

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Peonies are a flower bed decoration. Their large, multi-colored, fragrant flowers are eye-catching and eye-catching. But sometimes it happens that peonies bloom poorly, the flowers are small, the leaves are not very bright, there are a lot of buds, but there is no desired beauty. What to do? Let me tell you a few secrets that will help your peonies bloom beautifully

The first secret is proper watering

Although, if your summer is cool and rainy, then the flowers do not need additional watering. But if it is hot outside and the rains are not pleasing with their presence, then watering is simply necessary. Watering frequency is once a week. The most important thing is to water it correctly. Many (like me before, however) water the peonies right at the base of the bush. It turns out that there are the main rhizomes, in which nutrients are stored, but they themselves cannot absorb moisture. It turns out that watering at the base of the bush is useless.

Small roots, due to which moisture enters the plant, are located on the periphery. If the peony is young, then the distance from the center of the bush to the roots we need is about 20-30 centimeters, if the bush is old, then the distance is about half a meter, about 40-45 centimeters. Therefore, watering must be done taking into account these data.

The optimal time for watering is evening, so that the water does not evaporate, but is absorbed into the soil. The amount of water for irrigation is about 4 buckets per peony bush.

The second secret is the obligatory loosening of the soil

The work is not difficult, it does not take much time, but it is necessary for peonies. Loosening should be done about a day after watering or rain. It depends on how quickly the soil dries up. It is necessary to loosen moist soil, preventing it from completely drying out. This procedure will help the roots breathe well.

Now about the correctness: the depth of loosening at the center of the bush should not exceed 7 centimeters, and at a distance of about 30 centimeters from the base of the bush - no deeper than 15 centimeters.

The third secret is the obligatory feeding of the bushes

Any plant reacts gratefully to feeding. Therefore, if you want a beautiful and abundant flowering, then be sure to feed the peonies at least once a season: in autumn, summer and spring. Better yet, four feedings. The first time - when the first burgundy sprouts emerge from the ground, the second time - when buds appear, the third time - during flowering, the fourth - after the flowering is completely completed.

When applying top dressing, be careful and do not forget that an excess of nitrogen in the soil will lead to an increase in green mass to the detriment of the quantity and quality of buds.

Top dressing should be carried out only after watering or after a good rain, using any complex fertilizers. Please note that you can add fertilizer to the soil only after heavy rain or watering.

The fourth secret - rejuvenating the bushes

Peonies are relatively unpretentious and can easily grow in the same place for a very long time, for decades. And they will bloom. But every year the plant grows old, and the flowering becomes less abundant. Therefore, once every 9-10 years, it is necessary to rejuvenate the bushes. This procedure is done in August. It's simple: the bush is dug up, divided and planted around the site (you don't need to plant too much, do not thicken the planting).

And one more little secret for those who like very large flowers: be sure to cut off the side buds!

Important! Be sure to pick off wilted flower stalks before the petals begin to crumble! Firstly, so that the bush does not waste nutrients on them, but directs them to developing buds. Secondly, the petals, falling on the leaves in wet rainy weather, can provoke a disease of the bush with gray rot. And this disease is quite difficult to cure.