Peonies in the fall care and preparation for the winter. Preparing for winter - caring for peonies in the fall

In most garden plots, you can find beautiful flowers - peonies. They are so popular due to their luxurious fragrant flowers. This is a real garden decoration in the spring summer season... Herbaceous care perennial plant it is not difficult, however, special attention should be paid to preparing peonies for winter, since this flower is very afraid of frost. Let's find out how you can save peonies in winter.

Pruning and sheltering peonies for the winter

In order for peonies to successfully overwinter, it is necessary to carry out special preparation of flowers for wintering. It should be remembered that the successful wintering of peonies directly depends on the place of their planting: flowers planted in different parts garden can survive the winter differently.

Wintering is best when planted near trees, bushes or along fences. On an elevated, blown area in winter, snow does not linger well. Therefore, for peonies planted in such places, it is necessary to make additional shelter for the winter. To do this, each peony bush is mulched, covered from above, for example, with an inverted box, which is then covered with spruce branches.

Peonies planted in low places suffer from stagnation of cold, damp air. Therefore, their tubers must be insulated with a thicker layer. various materials... It can be lutrasil, agril, or regular burlap. On top of such insulation, branches of spruce branches are placed, connected to each other in the form of a hut.

Are peonies pruned for the winter?

Many gardeners are interested in when to cut peonies for the winter. Correct timing is very important for a lush and abundant flowering next year. However, the pruning time depends on which region you live in: in cold areas, frosts can already come at the end of September, and in the south and in December it is still warm. Therefore, on average, peonies should be cut in October-November, with the onset of frost. By this time, the peonies root system is already completely ready for winter, and the tubers have accumulated enough nutrients for a successful wintering.

When pruning, it is necessary to cut off the entire aerial part of the plant, leaving growth buds and remnants of stems about 2-4 cm in height. Since the stems of peonies will rot by the spring, it is better to burn or remove all of their cut remains from the site so that possible infections and mold do not pass over to healthy plants in the spring.

Peony care for the winter

After cutting, peonies must be mulched with humus or dry peat with a layer of at least 10 cm. For northern regions this layer should be increased to 20 cm. Such a shelter contributes to the fact that peonies wake up earlier than others in the spring, not covered plants, and will bloom more profusely. In addition, those nutrients that are contained in the mulch, entering the soil, become an excellent growth stimulator and fertilizer for peonies, especially old bushes.

It is not recommended to cover peonies with cut stems, fallen leaves, manure or straw. Such residues may contain spores of fungi that cause various fungal diseases of peonies. In addition, such organic residues may contain various harmful insects hibernate. It is also undesirable to use sawdust, needles, tree bark and shavings for mulching peony bushes, since, by decaying, they make the soil unnecessarily acidic.

In early spring, as soon as the ground dries up a little and it will be possible to approach the peony bushes, the shelters are removed from them, and the mulch is raked into the aisles, leaving a small layer to retain moisture and protect against early weeds.

As you can see, it is not at all difficult to cover peonies for the winter, but such care will pay off handsomely in the form of beautiful fragrant flowers in your garden.

It is believed that the peony does not need careful care, so many gardeners do not touch the perennial in the fall. Meanwhile, carrying out certain agrotechnical measures will be beneficial for the plant.

Every year I prepare a peony for winter: I prune it in correct timing stalks, fertilizing and organizing a shelter. These measures have a positive effect on the health of the perennial, and every summer he pleases me with lush inflorescences.

Inexperienced gardeners are often interested in specialized forums whether it is necessary to dig up peonies for the winter. Many flowers really need a comfortable wintering in a cellar, refrigerator or cool pantry, since being in freezing soil will lead them to inevitable death.

It is not necessary to dig up peonies in the fall, since the perennial hibernates well and tolerates very coldy under safe cover. Dig up a peony only for transplanting to another place or for the purpose of flower propagation.

Pruning

Most important stage preparing peonies for winter - pruning the stems. Many gardeners neglect this procedure or do it too early, thereby harming the perennial. What is pruning for and how to do it correctly?

Do I need to prune peonies in the fall? It is necessary, moreover, these activities are aimed not only at the aesthetics of your site, and facilitating work in the spring. Even if the leaves were not affected by any pests and fungi in the summer season, they must be removed without fail.

With the onset of cold weather, insects, including those not entirely useful for perennials, seek shelter for wintering. Uncleared foliage becomes an ideal haven for them, and in the spring, pests actively lay their eggs and larvae in the ground and plant tissues.

Also, leaves softened in spring can become a place where pathogens begin to hide, which can subsequently harm young shoots.

Thus, the autumn pruning of a peony becomes a mandatory sanitary measure. When exactly is it better to remove leaves and stems?

Pruning time

In order not to harm the peony, it is worth pruning within a clearly limited time frame. Some gardeners completely prune the perennial at the end of its decorative period, and this is a colossal mistake.

In foliage, very important processes of photosynthesis take place until mid-autumn, during which the roots accumulate specific substances in themselves.

These elements help the plant to successfully recover its strength after lush bloom, prepare for the cold weather, overwinter and actively start growing with the onset of warmth.

In the summer, only dried flower stalks should be cut off, while the foliage should not be affected. Removing the entire above-ground part, which has already become unnecessary due to the loss of its decorative effect, will colossally harm the perennial and deprive it of important nutrition. If the plant does not die, then next year it will definitely be weakened.

In autumn, pruning of a peony is carried out only after the establishment of frost. The plant is already fully prepared for wintering, so removing the leaves will not harm it. Define right moment for pruning it is possible according to the state of the foliage - it should completely lie on the ground.

If you do not have the opportunity to be on the site during the first frost, you can remove almost the entire aerial part of the peony on the last day of the outgoing season, leaving 3-4 central stems with leaves, which will ensure the course of photosynthesis processes and nutrition of the root system.

Top dressing

Peony dressing should be applied in the fall about 2 weeks before the predicted frost. Depending on the climatic zone, perennials are fertilized from the 20th of September to 10 October.

It is important to choose the optimal composition of preparations that will help the flower to successfully overwinter, and in the spring to quickly grow and in the right time to present the gardener with its luxurious lush inflorescences.

For successful wintering, the root system of a peony requires phosphorus and potassium, but nitrogen is strictly contraindicated. The last element stimulates the growth of green mass, these processes at this stage are completely unnecessary and even dangerous.

A plant that has gone into growth can die, because it does not have time to prepare for winter.

Top dressing in the fall has several goals:

• the root system is strengthened and the plant qualitatively survives the onset of cold weather;
• lays the foundation for the development of strong and large buds, which will produce powerful foliage and large inflorescences.

Peony dressing can be applied both in dry form and with solutions of complex preparations. If autumn turned out without precipitation, then it is better to use liquid version, spilling under each bush about a liter of the drug diluted according to the instructions.

Lingering rains suggest the use of granular fertilizers: they are scattered over near-trunk circle perennials, coordinating the consumption with the recommendations of the manufacturers.

Dry top dressing can be embedded shallowly into the soil, loosening it with a hoe, or leave it lying on the surface: under the influence of rainwater, the granules will gradually dissolve, and the micro- and macroelements contained in them will go to the root system of the peony.

Shelter

Pruning and feeding are not all the activities that you should take when preparing peonies for wintering. In regions where severe frosts are established in winter or the amount of snow is not enough to protect the perennial, the flower must be provided with shelter.

V middle lane, where severe frosts are established, as a rule, after heavy snowfalls, it is quite logical that the question is brewing whether it is necessary to shelter peonies for the winter. If the perennial grows on a hill or in a windswept place on your site, then you will need to provide protection for it.

If the peony grows near the northern fence or is surrounded by trees and shrubs, then the creation of a shelter will be optional.

• in Siberia, mulching with closing the place from blowing is mandatory;
• in the Urals, a thorough protection of peonies from frost is also necessary;
• in the middle lane, peonies for the winter only mulch or only huddle;
• in the Volga region, standard hilling is sufficient.

If the listed factors and climatic conditions in your region tell you to create a shelter, start manipulating with the onset of the first dry frosts and a steady drop in temperature to -5 0.

It is necessary to protect a perennial from the harmful effects of frost in several stages:

1. Since the growth buds of a peony are located at a depth of only 6 cm, the main measure to protect them from frost is hilling. After pruning, sprinkle earth on the bushes to increase the plant's resistance to frost.
2. On top, you need to pour a thick (15-18 cm) layer of mulch.
3. Above the mulch layer for protection against blowing out, a wooden or plastic box, an ordinary bucket or put spruce branches.

Separately, you should consider the issue of mulching material. In no case should the cut leaves of peony and other garden plants act in its role.

Pervasive organic matter will attract pests and pathogenic flora to itself, which will lead to dangerous diseases perennial. For the same reason, it is not recommended to use straw or manure for shelter.

Popular mulching materials such as pine needles, fresh sawdust, bark, contribute to soil acidification, which can negatively affect the health of the peony.

Of course, if you do not have any other means for organizing a shelter, you can use them, but every year you should test the PH of the earth with litmus strips and in time to lye it with the help of available drugs.

The ideal mulch that does not affect the soil pH is high moor peat and caked sawdust.

If you live on a site all year round, then it is recommended to throw snow cleared from the paths on top of peonies and other perennials. The larger the covering layer, the better the plants will tolerate frost. In addition, melting snow will qualitatively saturate the earth and give flowers the strength for full growth and development.

In early spring, during the period of active snow melting, the shelter must be disassembled. Most of the mulch should be shaved off the peony so that it does not lead to overheating of the root system and growth buds.

A small layer must be left - it will serve to retain moisture and protect the ground from dispersal of weed seeds.

A rare summer cottage does without luxurious peonies, summer care of which is most often limited to watering. But the preparation of peonies for winter involves their mandatory pruning, feeding and insulation.

During the summer, the flowers are watered, but they need most of the moisture during the flowering period. Further, the number and volume of watering is gradually reduced, slowly bringing them to zero. The moment of gradualness is important here. And in the fall, most often only rains are enough. Dry autumn is more likely to prepare plants for a dormant period.

In the fall, new bushes are planted on the site, if necessary, those that are already growing on it are transplanted, adult plants are divided, simultaneously reproducing and rejuvenating peonies. But to prepare them for winter means cutting off the deciduous mass, making the last autumn feeding, insulate in anticipation of cold weather. Everything needs to be done correctly and in a timely manner.

Pruning peonies

In the fall, it is imperative to cut off all the stems with leaves, since they will inevitably wither, then rot. In them, pests can settle for the winter, the decaying leaves themselves usually become a breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms. If some kind of infection (often fungal) nestled on them in the summer, but did not cause a visible disease, then next season it will inevitably hit the plant and spread to others. For the good of your entire plot, pruning should not be postponed until spring.

Timing of pruning a plant for the winter

In summer, as a rule, only fading flowers are cut, and the leaves continue to perform their decorative function on the site. The roots grow until the coldest days, accumulate strength for subsequent flowering, and the process of photosynthesis in the leaves actively helps them. Therefore, it is necessary to cut off the green mass when this process is naturally inhibited. The ideal time is after the first frost, when the leaves fall to the ground.

If for some reason you need to cut the peony earlier, you should leave several leaves on each stem so that the plant can further assimilate useful material without stopping photosynthesis completely. Depending on the beginning of winter, pruning is carried out approximately from mid-September to mid-October.

Peony pruning scheme

Herbaceous peonies are cut with a sharp, disinfected pruner almost at the very ground, leaving only a couple of centimeters from the twigs. It is better to destroy all cut greens by taking them away from the site. It is not suitable for compost due to possible contamination.

If you leave high hemp of the stems, they will dry out, but they can become a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria, therefore they are usually cut so low that the subsequent hilling will completely hide the bush from the eyes.

Care and feeding after pruning

After pruning, the land around the bush is freed from all leaves, branches, grass, loosened special tools not very deep so as not to damage the roots. This the best time for the last feeding of the plant. You can use any ready-made complex fertilizers containing potassium and phosphorus. Some growers prefer to make bone meal with wood ash... The main thing is that you do not need to use nitrogen-containing fertilizers, so as not to inadvertently provoke the growth of new shoots, which will inevitably freeze.

Fertilizers can be scattered around the bush, loosening will mix them with the ground, and subsequent rains will carry it to the root. If the autumn is dry, then it is better to dilute them according to the instructions and pour about 1 liter under each bush.

Video "Preparing peonies for winter"

In this video, a specialist will tell you how to properly prepare peonies for winter period.

Shelter peonies for the winter

When deciding how to shelter peonies for the winter, it is necessary to proceed from assumptions about the degree of severity and snowiness of winter. Cold frosty winds in combination with snowless winters can destroy plants, and the snow that has fallen in time will itself serve the best hideout... The only pity is that we cannot accurately predict this, so it is necessary to organize a shelter suitable for all occasions.

A tree-like perennial peony, oddly enough, tolerates winter cold quite easily. Caring for it does not imply total pruning, it is trimmed only for the purpose of shaping or rejuvenating. The buds for the next year's flowers are laid on the skeletal branches, so they are only shortened to the desired length. But usually all pruning of a tree peony is carried out in the spring.

Of the autumn activities are mandatory: cleaning the bush and the surrounding area from fallen leaves, grass, branches, loosening the earth and making potassium-phosphorus dressings. An adult peony will survive the winter perfectly, one has only to spud its trunk. But a young, still low plant must be spilled high, mulched by at least 20 cm, and completely covered with a box or bucket on top.

Features of preparation for winter in the regions

Buds of future twigs herbaceous peonies are no deeper than 6 cm below ground level. It is necessary to decide how much to insulate the plant for the winter, depending on the region. So, in the southern regions, peonies are not insulated at all. For the Volga region, a good layer of mulch 10-15 cm high is enough. Summer residents of the middle lane and the Moscow region are afraid strong winds and a lack of snow, so they prefer to cover the plants with spruce branches or lutrasil, in addition to the usual mulch.

In the Urals and Siberia, it is imperative to put a high layer of mulch - 20–25 cm thick, arrange a box or box on top, which will provide a layer of air, they are still covered with a special non-woven fabric. And in the spring, they gradually dismantle this shelter as the air temperature rises.

Common mistakes when preparing for winter

Peonies - very unpretentious plants, they do not require constant attention, in the summer it is enough just to water them. Most often, even fertilizers are applied exclusively in spring and autumn. Most of the manipulations are carried out with them in the fall in preparation for winter. It is important to avoid mistakes here, as they can have serious consequences.

The most serious mistake is not autumn pruning bushes. The result can be not only a strongly weakened peony, but also plants nearby that are sick with all sorts of infectious (most often fungal) diseases.

After pruning, you cannot cover the roots with the same leaves - the result will be the same, pests and pathogenic microorganisms will happily overwinter and get stronger, but peonies, on the contrary, will weaken and get sick.

Pruning too early is a common mistake to weaken the plant. And sheltering not in accordance with the expected winter can completely lead the plant to death.

One of the most common garden flowers is peonies. They are very popular with flower growers. The plant is considered unpretentious, but still there are some nuances in its cultivation that all breeders of this beautiful shrub need to know. Special attention it is necessary to pay to the question of sheltering peonies for the winter, because the bright flowering of these luxurious flowers depends on this.

Shrub species

Preparatory measures for the winter period are the key to the active flowering of the plant. But in order for it to please the owner in the fall, it is necessary to make some efforts to prepare the bushes for the cold weather. There is no need to dig them out for the winter, but other important agrotechnical measures must be taken.

All perennial peonies are divided into:

• herbaceous- ordinary garden peonies, which so often become favorites in garden plots;
• treelike- are distinguished by their impressive size of the bush and stems, which become woody over time.

Both species are subject to annual autumn training. In addition, the plant is not winter-hardy, so it needs shelter for the winter.

Features of the preparation of herbaceous species

Peonies need to be prepared thoroughly for the cold weather. Experienced gardeners recommend just sticking to some of the care measures. What you definitely need to do:

• feeding shrubs during the growing season;
• bush transplant if necessary;
• autumn pruning;
• obligatory mulching;
• insulation of bushes for the winter.

These works must be done in autumn time... The only thing to miss is the transfer. If there is no such need, it is not necessary to do this, however, successful wintering also depends on the place where the bush grows.

Perennial planted between fruit or decorative bushes will survive the winter better than a peony growing in an open place. The second option will need to provide additional cover. You should decide which is easier - to transplant or cover, and act on this basis.

The mulch should be laid in a fairly high layer, about 20 cm.On top of it, the plant must be covered cardboard box or a plastic bucket, which will gradually cover the first snow abundantly. As far as possible, the snow cover should be increased throughout the winter: this will keep the plant warmer.

Preparation of tree varieties

Treelike peonies grow in huge bushes. Their peculiarity is that in autumn the leaves fall from the stems. But, like herbaceous species, they require serious preparation for the winter.

Bush formation

Treelike species should only be pruned in two cases. Rejuvenating pruning is carried out once every 10-15 years as needed. In the process, all old shoots are removed in order to activate the growth of new ones. The first sign is that the bush stops blooming profusely, the flowers themselves become smaller with each season, sometimes the flowering stops altogether. Surprisingly, if the procedure for rejuvenating a shrub is carried out correctly, its life expectancy can be 60-80 years.

Elatior begonia care rules at home

Formative pruning is necessary to give the bush its special decorative form... The plant can reach a height of 2.5 m, so all branches must be cut by 0.9 cm.This will give the bush a more attractive appearance... In the spring, young shoots will begin to actively develop, which will add splendor to the bush and bring abundant luxurious bloom... It also makes shelter much easier for the winter.

After the procedure, the cut site must be disinfected. They can be covered with garden varnish or wood ash. If this is not done right away, the plant can be sore for a long time.

The next important step in preparing the plant for the winter period is feeding. Fertilization for tree peonies is carried out in the same way as for herbaceous.

Shrub shelter

This is a necessary event for plants in almost all regions with cold winter... And even such huge bushes need it very much. In order not to lose such a beautiful thing in the cold ornamental plant, it is necessary to properly organize its shelter.