When is the right time to prune peonies?
Pruning tree peonies can be carried out in November-December and in three different stages.
1) Cleaning the plant: removing the parts that will not give life to new vegetation in the seasons to come.
2) Proper pruning: necessary only to shape the plant to ensure correct growth or to give the shrub a particular growth pattern.
3) Densing up the shrub: if the peony is growing too tall and with few branches, it is best to prune it to stimulate the growth of new shoots from the base. To form a bushy shrub, do not be afraid to prune and eliminate many of the new buds. In this way the plant will grow new shoots and begin to form a bush.
To achieve even bigger flowers, some buds should be removed to allow all the energy and life to go to those that remain. This operation is carried out only between February and March, but the period should nonetheless be chosen on the basis of the local climate, avoiding the risk of eliminating buds that may survive any late frosts. Therefore, debudding should only be carried out when you are sure that the first buds will grow without problems and once there is no risk of late frosts.
