Pruning peonies in the Moscow region for winter

In this article, we'll look at specific times for pruning peonies for the winter in the Moscow region. Needless to say, these luxurious and fragrant peonies adorn your garden in the spring and summer. These flowers are common in gardens in the Moscow region.

Despite its delightful appearance, it cannot be said that Peonies are demanding in careHowever, special preparation for winter is required. The bush must be pruned and covered. This is especially true for early varieties, as they exhibit good winter hardiness, but only if properly covered and pruned.

How to cover peonies

In this video on when to prune peonies for the winter in the Moscow region, you can learn a lot about this process. The success of peonies overwintering will largely depend on the location where they are planted. Even within the same garden, but in different locations, these flowers will overwinter differently.

If the goal is to protect bushes from frost, it's important to choose the right planting location—between trees and shrubs. When peonies are planted at an elevated site, exposed to wind and snow, additional cover is essential for successful overwintering.

Important! For additional insulation, mulch the flowers with a layer of dry peat. Place a box on top, covering it with spruce branches.

If the beds are located in the lower part of the garden, where damp and cold air stagnates, even more cover is needed. Use burlap or construction covering material. Additionally, create a shelter of spruce branches on top. This also applies to tree peonies.

How to prune peonies

Now we move on to the main question of this material, when exactly peonies Trim. All work must be completed before the first frost. In the Moscow region, mid-October is a good time to begin. By then, the flowers should already be properly trimmed and covered.

Determining the exact time for pruning is easy. By this time, the soil should already be frozen, and the root system should be prepared for winter (meaning it will have accumulated enough nutrients to support the plant through the winter). Pruning is done by completely cutting off the above-ground part of the plant. Only the foam above the growth buds should be left, up to two or three centimeters at most. The cut stems should be collected and burned.

Important! To protect bushes from low temperatures, especially before snow falls, it's recommended to earth them up with dry peat moss, up to ten centimeters thick. If the climate is colder than the Moscow region, the layer thickness can be increased to twenty centimeters.

Features of using shelter

To ensure vigorous and rapid flower development in spring, be sure to provide additional cover for the winter. Mulch will prevent a crust from forming on the soil surface, meaning spring buds will be reliably protected from both winter frosts and even spring frosts. Plus, mulch provides excellent nutrition for plants.

Important! Straw or manure, as well as cut stems and leaves from the peony itself, should never be used as mulch. This is dangerous because it creates a favorable environment for the development of fungal diseases. Fungal spores can germinate and ultimately interfere with the normal spring development of the plants.

After the snow melts in the spring, it is recommended to spread the material over the garden bed, but still leave a little mulch under each bush, which will protect against crust formation and retain moisture in the soil, preventing early weeds from breaking through.

So, When to prune peonies for the winter In the Moscow region, this must be done before frost sets in. Typically, mid-October is the ideal time to complete all work. However, there may be some nuances depending on the specific year; sometimes the pruning period extends until early November.

It turns out that caring for peonies in terms of preparing them for winter isn't all that difficult. You'll just need to prune the bushes almost to the ground and then cover them for the winter. The type of cover chosen depends on the location where the peonies are growing, and even within the same plot, varying degrees of protection may be needed.