How to: Tidy up your Tree Peony in late autumn

This question comes up quite often: What is the best thing to do with Tree Peonies, in late autumn? 

They look such a mess, but many people are unsure what they can and can't do, because there is a ton of information available on how to care for "normal" perennial peonies, but not a lot on these woody ones.

So firstly, what is a tree Peony? Is it really a Peony at all, or is just called that because the flowers look a bit Peony-like? Is it like Tree Poppies, which are not Poppies at all, but are actually Romneya? Should we prune it back in winter? Should we obey the labelling which says "does not need any pruning"?

Firstly, yes, it is a Peony.  Normal perennial Peonies are properly called Paeonia, that's the genus name: and Tree Poppies are the same genus, Paeonia. But no-one can spell it, so we generally say Peony.

Most Peonies are sold under just their cultivar name, which appears in single quotes, and Tree Peonies are the same: mind you, there seems to be some confusion over the naming of Tree Peonies. Wikipedia, that font of all (unchecked, unofficial) knowledge, refers to them being the Moutan Peonies, but I've never actually heard that term used.

One of the easiest to grow is Paeonia lutea var. ludlowii which is strong, sturdy, has bright yellow flowers in great profusion, and which sets seed, so you only need to buy one of it!! (I love plants which are generous with their seeding, and/or are easy to propagate!)

I have had, over the years, a white tree Peony, and a glorious dark red one, but alas, they have both died, whereas the good old ludlowii just keeps on growing.

Maintenance:

In mid to late autumn, they tend to  look like this:

The foliage is going brown, it is hanging down in unpleasant soggy fronds, and the whole plant looks like nothing on earth.

First things first: gently pull away all those dead and dying leaves - the brown ones. 

If they don't want to come off easily, don't rip them - leave them for another week or two, or use secateurs to snip them off, as close as you can get to the stalk.

Pay particular attention to the ground level, as a lot of the leaves will have fallen down and become wedged in amongst the stalks. Clear them away, otherwise they will encourage damp and rot around the base of the stems, which is not a good thing.

Once you cleared away the leaves, take a look at the overall shape: is it pleasingly balanced? Is it overcrowded in places?  Are there one or two branches which are bigger than all the rest? Is the whole thing getting too big?

Now is the time to get either secateurs or loppers out, and remove any of those stems which seem to be unwanted. Just cut them off as close to ground level as you can manage.

If one or two stems are sticking out too far, but you won't want to remove them completely, you can just shorten them: look closely along the stem, and see if you can spot a big fat bud which is in about the right place. If you can, cut immediately above it. This reduces the length of the stem, but won't leave you with dead stubby bits, next year.

Having achieved something a bit more pleasing to the eye, take a closer look at each of the remaining stems, starting at the tips. Look for any tips which appear to be dead: they will be grey, and they won't have a fat bud at the tip. Using secateurs, cut off any dead portions - they won't do any good, and the tend to die downwards, if not nipped off. 

 And there you are, done.

Here - left - is the same Tree Peony as you saw above, having had all these processes carried out.

It's now ready to face the winter - a few more leaves to drop, but for now they are quite pleasing - having been thinned and shaped.

Once all the leaves are down, the overall shape will be as attractive as a skeleton can ever be: and next year, there will plenty of new growth and lots of flowers!

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