This amazingly beautiful garden flower at home has become a cult. A tree-like peony is on a small Chinese coin, in honor of it, holidays are held and works of art are created. Growing this flower is not easy, but its delightful flowering pays for all the troubles.

Tree peony: growing requirements

This flower cannot be called capricious, but in order to achieve lush flowering and preserve the plant in frosty winters, certain agricultural techniques should be observed.

Outdoor landing

These charming flowers are centenarians. In China, there are plants planted more than 800 (!) Years ago. In our harsh climate, they can’t hold out so much, but in order for their flowering to please not only you, but also your children and grandchildren, tree peonies must be planted correctly.

It is interesting:why peonies do not bloom, what to do?

This plant does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil, so its planting should include drainage, which is made of small stones or small pieces of brick.

With high standing groundwater, plants are planted in high ridges.

Site and soil preparation

Tree peonies do not tolerate transplantation well, because in order to plant and further care lead to abundant flowering, you need to immediately determine their habitat.

It must meet the following conditions:

  • to be well lit throughout the day, a small lace shadow is allowed and even desirable in the hottest time - this will prolong flowering;
  • be protected from strong winds - they interfere with flower buds;
  • not have stagnation of water - even a few days in the water during snowmelt in the spring is enough and the flowers can die;
  • remoteness from other plants - the roots of the tree peony negatively react to the presence of "neighbors";
  • if several varieties are planted, the distance between plants should not be less than one and a half meters - the diameter of the crown of a tree-like peony is equal to its height, and this flower does not grow in cramped conditions.

Tree peonies do not like either heavy clay soils or too light sandy soils. The best option is loam, which has good moisture permeability and saturation with air. Soil acidity is another important indicator, which should be in the range from 6.1 to 6.8.

If the soil does not meet the requirements of the plants, it has to be improved by adding the necessary components and liming. Sand is added to clay soil, and clay is added to sandy soil. Liming is always best done in the fall and in no case should it be combined with the application of nitrogen fertilizers, since nitrogen is lost during the application of lime. If such a procedure could not be carried out in the fall, when planted in the pit, ash is necessarily added, which not only reduces the acidity of the soil, but also contains the necessary micro and macro elements for plants.

How and when to plant?

The best time at which the tree-peony planting is optimal is from August to October. The warmer the region where the plant grows, the later you can plant it. The basic rule to be guided by is at least a month from planting to the arrival of frost. This time a flower needs to take root well.

  1. A pit for planting a peony in the ground is prepared in advance so that the earth settles, the most correct thing is to do it in the spring. The land must be thoroughly cleaned of weeds. The landing pit should have a depth and diameter of at least fifty centimeters.
  2. The lowest layer is drainage. Its thickness depends on the natural moisture of the soil, but not less than twenty centimeters. If the soil is peaty, it is completely replaced. Other types of soil are adjusted in accordance with the requirements of the plant. In any case, the bottom layer should consist of humus or a mixture of bone meal and excavated soil in a ratio of one to two with the addition of two hundred grams of superphosphate and one hundred and fifty grams of potassium sulfate. Bone meal will naturally enrich the soil with phosphorus. It is very good to add a glass of wood ash. Planting a tree peony is done so as to exclude contact of the roots with fertilizers - this can lead to burns and further decay.
  3. The plant is placed in a plastic container half-filled with the prepared earthen mixture and poured, the bottom is carefully cut around the perimeter and carefully pulled out from under the flower. Then the sides are cut and the container is completely removed. They fill the hole to the top, controlling the location of the root neck - it should be at the level of the edges of the hole. It is better to carry out the last operation with an assistant.
  4. If a seedling with a closed root system - carefully remove it from the pot and then act, as in the first case.
  5. The main condition for proper planting is to preserve the suction roots as much as possible. After the procedure, the plant is well watered, water needs five liters per bush. If the root stimulant (heteroauxin, rootin) is dissolved in water at the norm on the package, this will help the plant to root more successfully.

If there is a desire to make the grafted plant root, the root neck is buried by ten to fifteen centimeters. In this case, you will need to take care of the flow of additional heat to the roots. No closer than fifteen centimeters from the plant, half or two are buried in a circle two to three bottles of dark glass with their neck down.You can wet rags with kerosene and put them in bottles. The smell of kerosene will save the roots from damage by moles and a bear.

In practice, the massive supply of the roots of tree peonies occurs at the end of winter - the beginning of spring. Nevertheless, it is better not to plant the plant during this period. Why is spring planting undesirable?

Seedlings with an open root system practically do not have thin suction roots that nourish the plant. If you plant peonies in the spring, they quickly start growing under the influence of high temperature. This is facilitated by the supply of nutrients in the rhizomes, which are rapidly depleted. In heat, the growth of suction roots occurs slowly and as a result an imbalance appears between the underground and aboveground parts of the plant. From a lack of nutrition, the plants weaken, all the forces will be spent on their restoration, which means that you will not have to wait for flowering next year. Therefore, seedlings with an open root system are best grown by planting in a plastic bottle with loose soil and openings for water drainage. Keep her in a cold basement.

Tree Peony: Outdoor Care

For the well-being of plants and so that they do not stop blooming, tree peonies need proper care. This flower does not forgive negligence, therefore, all agricultural activities must be carried out strictly.

Peony watering schedule

These beautiful flowers are watered infrequently, but abundantly. In the absence of precipitation, it is enough to do this 4 times a month, pouring at least 6 liters of water under each plant. In hot weather, watered more often. Mulching will help maintain the proper moisture level. Watering is gradually reduced since August and stopped completely at its end. The ground under the bushes is regularly weeded.

Fertilizer and fertilizing

He loves to eat this flower, therefore, top dressing begins already in early spring.

The schedule of top dressing of a tree peony:

  1. After the snow melts, it is necessary to cultivate the earth around the bushes with a potassium permanganate solution at the rate of three grams per half ten-liter bucket of water. This amount is enough to water one bush.
  2. The first top dressing with potash and nitrogen fertilizers is also carried out in the snow. It will take fifty grams of ammonium nitrate and twenty grams of potassium sulfate per bush. Top dressing is evenly scattered under the bush, and meltwater will bring nutrition to the roots.
  3. The second top dressing is carried out when buds are formed. It should include all macronutrients: ten grams of nitrogen, twelve grams of potassium, fifteen grams of phosphorus in terms of the current mass of fertilizer per plant.
  4. Last year's bushes respond very well to foliar top dressing, which is carried out in cloudy but not rainy weather. The bushes are sprayed from the sprayer with a urea solution (first top dressing) at the rate of fifty grams per ten-liter bucket and complex fertilizer with the addition of trace elements (second top dressing) according to the instructions on the package. Feeding is carried out in the phase of the growing moon.
  5. Care of these flowers in the summer comes down to a mandatory top dressing after flowering with a solution of twenty-five grams of superphosphate and ten grams of potassium sulfate per ten liters of water per square meter.

Plant pruning

Usually spring pruning.

  1. If the bush is not frozen, then pruning is best done immediately after removing the shelter before the start of the growing season. As a rule, cut off the upper part of the shoot to the first bud of growth.
  2. Weak twigs need to be shortened so that their height from the soil level is from nine to twelve centimeters.
  3. Sometimes it seems that the escape froze. In this case, you need to wait for the start of the growing season and if the buds do not wake up by the end of May, you will have to cut the shoot to a healthy part.
  4. In order not to deplete the young bush, part of the buds are removed from it before flowering.

Transplant Nuances

The plant has a negative attitude to transplantation; it really does not like to be disturbed by its root system.If such a need arose, only adult bushes aged 5-6 years can be transplanted. The transplant process is identical to planting a flower. It is necessary to prepare for the fact that the first time after the transplant, the tree peony will develop poorly.

Winter preparations

The winter hardiness zone of most tree peonies is 4–5. In areas with more severe climates, plants require winter shelter. The buds, as well as the leaves of the plant, are damaged by late spring frosts.

The most winter-hardy are peonies of the Rock subspecies. Frosts up to 40 degrees are not terrible for them.

To prepare the tree-like peony for winter, after the first frosts, all leaves are removed from the bushes and burned. The bush is neatly tied. It is impossible to bend it to the ground, since its shoots are very fragile. The soil under the plant is covered with a thick layer of humus. When steady frost sets in, the plants are covered with burlap or non-woven material.

Propagation of Tree Peony

Propagate these plants in the following ways.

  1. Reproduction by vaccination. Very effective, but also the most difficult way. It requires the root of a grassy peony of milky flowering and a stalk having two buds from a young shoot of a tree-like peony. The end of the handle is shaped like a wedge. A hole in the root makes the same shape and size. Insert the stalk there and tie the place of inoculation with a strip of soft film. The resulting vaccinations are stored with moistened sawdust in the dark and planted in a greenhouse a month later, deepening the vaccination site by seven centimeters. Greenhouse cultivation is carried out for two years, and vaccination is carried out in August.
  2. Reproduction by division. The easiest way. You can share root bushes that have reached the age of six. Tree peonies share the same way as grassy peonies.
  3. Reproduction by layering. For this method, in the spring a branch is selected that is strongly inclined to the ground, a small incision is made on it and treated with a root formation stimulator. The branch is bent to the soil and sprinkled with earth with a layer of about ten centimeters. The rooted shoot is planted next year.
  4. Propagation by cuttings. This method does not differ from the cuttings of roses. The stem is taken semi-lignified, having one kidney, and is rooted in a small plate. Cuttings are carried out at the end of June. Soil - a mixture of peat and sand in equal parts. Depth of landing is one and a half centimeter. If the stalk takes root, which is rare, it is grown in a greenhouse.
  5. Seed propagation. A method for breeders, since plants do not retain parental traits. The seeds of the tree peony have a low germination rate, and when they are stored, it becomes even smaller. After harvesting, the seeds are scarified and sown in moist, fertile soil. Sowing depth up to three centimeters. Seedlings have to wait from two to five years.

How to get rid of pests and diseases?

Healthy bushes are quite resistant to diseases, and in weakened plants gray rot and brown spotting are most often found.

  1. When signs of gray rot appear, spraying with potassium permanganate helps - three grams per ten-liter bucket or a solution of copper sulfate of six percent concentration.
  2. If the plant is sick with brown spotting, remove and burn all the leaves with signs of the disease. The plant itself is treated with Bordeaux liquid. Its concentration is one percent.

There are also viral diseases of peonies: Lemoine disease, verticillin wilt and leaf mosaic. Affected plants are removed from the flower garden, as it is impossible to cure them.

  1. Ants attracted by sweet bud secretions annoy the tree-like peonies. They are fought with repellents.
  2. Aphids are washed off with a stream of water or destroyed by insecticides: "Actellic" or "Fitoverm."
  3. They are saved from thrips by spraying tree-shaped peonies with “Karbofos” 0.2% concentration.

Use in landscape design

The flower of the emperor can be an excellent solitaire in a flower garden of any format or simply on a lawn.Several plants perfectly decorate the background of the flower garden. Low varieties will be appropriate in rock gardens, peonies are good and next to conifers.

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