Click the links below to jump to specific topics

- Site Selection
- Amending Your Soil
- Planting
- What to Expect
- Fall Care
- Diseases/Insects
- Cut Flowers
- Transplanting Peonies

It's Peony Planting Time
Whether you are noticing the approach of spring or the onset of winter it is the perfect time to plant tree peonies.  In late fall and early winter, plant before the permanent frost settles. In spring, plant bare root peonies as early as the ground can be worked and protect from frost. Plant in an area that is free of tree roots, where the soil is neutral and well draining and where there is partial sun. Tree peonies grow well in zones 4-9. For more information on your horticultural zone visit the National Gardening Associations website.

Tree peonies are dug and shipped late in the fall. It is important to wait to dig them until after the plants have become dormant. Notice the images below where the leaves in the forest have all but dropped and yet the tree peonies are still holding their leaves. They are very cold tolerant.

If you are currently waiting on your tree peony order, please note that they are shipping a bit later this year due to warm weather. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. For those of you to the north of us, one good thing to do is to dig your hole in preparation. We tend to plant in NJ long after the first snow of the year and so we will predig each hole and place a three gallon bucket in the hole filled with the amended soil mixture(see below). Make sure that the bucket sticks out of the ground some or it can be difficult to get out. If you are super diligent, you can keep an additional pot of amended soil in the garage so that you have sufficient dirt when you are ready to plant.

Plants
Healthy tree peonies consist of 2 to 5 stems on a strong root system. All of our tree peonies except the gansu varieties are on their own roots - not grafted onto an herbaceous root - thus ensuring that only a tree peony will grow and not its herbaceous nurse root. Bare-root tree peonies are planted September through April. Potted tree peonies are planted in early spring.

Site Selection
First, consider placement. Tree peonies should be planted where there is little competition from other large trees or shrubs. Give your plant a good 3 to 5 feet of space that it can grow in to. Dwarf varieties will require less space; mid and tall varieties more. Remember that your plant is slow growing and will take time to fill in this space but plan accordingly as they do not like to be moved.

Second, consider soil conditions. Peonies tolerate a wide range of soil conditions. Ideally, you want neutral to slightly alkaline soil that has good drainage and high organic content. Peonies planted in clay soil, amended to ensure good drainage, take longer to become established but produce beautiful plants as clay soil retains nutrition.  Peonies planted in sandy soil take less time to become established but can produce less striking plants as nutrients easily leech out of the soil. If planting in sandy soil, amend with clay and compost and top dress several times a year with compost to renew the soil. Regardless of soil conditions, tree peonies need soil that drains, as peonies cannot tolerate wet feet. 

Third, amount of sun. Tree peonies are tolerant of a wide range of sun conditions from full sun to dappled shade but prefer dappled shade. Ideally, your tree peony wants morning sun and afternoon shade, or dappled sun throughout the day. This will give your tree peony ample sunlight while prolonging the life of the flowers.  If you grow your tree peonies in full sun, consider using wax paper umbrellas to prevent the flowers from fading and carefully monitor the moisture in the soil so that your tree peony does not dry out. Varieties with numerous petals will hold up in stronger sun than those with fewer petals.

Forth, extraneous factors. If you live in a location prone to heavy winds, consider planting your tree peony near a windbreak. If your area is prone to heavy snows consider planting your tree peony away from eves or plow lines to protect the tree peony from heavy downfalls of snow that can break the branches. If you want to try growing tree peonies horticultural zones 2 or 3, a tree peonies will have substantial die and will grow more like an herbaceous peony, sprouting from the base every year. In these zones mulch heavily in winter. In zones 4-9 tree peonies need no winter protection as they are cold hardy and resilient.

Planting
Dig a hole 24 inches deep and at least 12 inches wide. This may seem like a huge hole for such a small root but remember it will grow! Your tree peony prefers to be planted and left in one location for generations so it is worth taking the time to do it right.

Amending Your Soil
Look to create a friable loam - soft, dark, rich, loose, soil that has relatively equal proportions of clay, silt and sand. These soil conditions will allow for free water flow while retaining the nutrients in the soil. Invest in a soil test from your county’s agricultural extension service to help determine the makeup of your soil.

Below are pictures of how we plant in New Jersey. We have heavy soil made up of clay and rock. We create a nutrient rich, highly draining, soil mixture for the bottom of the hole. This consists of three parts compost, two parts stone dust, and one part dirt from the hole. For the top of the hole, surrounding the peony root itself, we create a mixture of equal parts compost, stone dust, and dirt from the hole. This produces a friable loam that is excellent for growing tree peonies.

Planting Depth
Tree peonies should be planted deeply. The plant should be buried so that the join of the root and the stem is two inches below the surface of the soil. This will promote additional branches to emerge from the base. All of our tree peonies (except the gansu mudan varieties) are on their own root, not grafted, and new shoots from the roots should be encouraged to provide a shapely plant. The gansu mudan varieties are grafted and should be planted even more deeply - the graft should be six inches below the surface of the soil. This deep planting forces dieback of the nurse herbaceous root and successful growth of the tree peony root. Any herbaceous shoots noticed growing from a gansu variety should be cut back and the plant should be mulched to more deeply bury the root.

Planting Depth: Own Root vs Grafted

Watering
During the first two growing seasons after planting a new tree peony, ensure that it gets a good soaking once a week.  Monitor water intake carefully. Water more in times of drought than in times of heavy rains, and more if your tree peony is planted in full sun than in dappled shade. Weekly soakings keep the plant from being stressed by drought as it develops its fibrous root system.  However, remember that peonies do not like wet feet and be careful to not over water, watering daily will cause rot. It is essential that your tree peony be planted in well draining soil so that the water does not pool around the plant.

What to Expect
Tree peonies, like most perennials, take about three years to become established in your garden. They follow the well known truisms - first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap - or first year roots, second year shoots, third year flowers. You can often expect small flowers on first or second year tree peonies but the flowers you are looking for typically come in the third year. Tree peonies will grow five to ten inches of green growth every year. Part of this green growth will become next year’s woody branch. Tree peonies set their buds late summer into early fall so any desired pruning should be done right after they flower to prevent the loss of next years flowers.

Cut Flowers
Tree peonies can have flowers as large as dinner plates. Stems should be cut short, less than two inches, to avoid cutting off what will become next year's woody stem and flowers. They can be floated in large glass vases and bowls making an incredible statement on any table.

Fall Care
Tree peonies are self-reliant requiring little care in the fall. Unlike herbaceous peonies, tree peonies stems do not get cut back. Fastidious gardeners can trim back the leaves to the stems and in severely cold climates - horticultural zones 2 and 3 - they can be screened with burlap to protect from winter winds and heavy snow. Also different from herbaceous peonies, tree peonies like mulch. A light layer of nutrient-rich mulch or compost will feed and protect your plant in the winter. Avoid mulching with wood chips however as the fungus that decomposes wood chips can infect tree peonies. For the most part, however, tree peonies do not require any special fall or winter care.

Prune for shape only. Prune just as the flowers are fading as next year’s flowers develop early on existing wood. Never prune more than one-third of the plant at one time. Use a sharp set of pruners and cut at an angle just above the place of a new bud. Dip the pruners in a 10 percent bleach solution after each cut.

Diseases/Insects
To prevent disease make sure your garden is kept clean, that air circulates, and that plants are kept healthy. Messenger™ and Neptune’s Harvest™ are two organic products to keep your plants healthy and disease resistant.

Powdery Mildew - leaves turn white. Onset is in late June through September.  It is not fatal and tree peonies are less prone than herbaceous peonies to this fungus. In some years powdery mildew is worse than others. It can infect plants when there are hot days, high humidity, and cool nights. Once the plant is infected, simply remove the leaves in the fall for no amount of spray or oil will rid the plant of powdery mildew this year. Some preventative remedies include the following: Bacillus subtilis to boost plant’s natural defenses, neem oil or other horticultural oils, backing soda spray (1t backing soda, 1qt. water and a few drops of liquid soap), products containing sulfur, or a biofungicide recommended to treat powdery mildew on peonies, rhubarb leaf tea, cornmeal as a soil amendment or mixed as a spray. All pesticides should be used according to package directions and remedies should be tried on portions of the plant prior to making large scale applications. The cooperative extension service in New Jersey recommends potassium bicarbonate at 7-10 day intervals.