How to prune tree peonies in autumn? Methods and precautions

When pruning tree peonies in autumn, the points to pay attention to include cutting flowers, pruning branches, removing buds and clearing suckers. In autumn, when the flowering period ends, we should cut off the remaining flowers and withered leaves, cut off leggy branches, thin and weak branches, and diseased or dead branches, cut off buds growing inward, and clear the suckers growing on the roots, to prepare for winter.

How to prune tree peonies in autumn

1. Cutting flowers

After autumn arrives, the tree peony's flowers reach the end of their blooming and will completely wither. After the flowers fade, we should promptly use sterilized scissors to cut off the flower stalks and withered leaves remaining on the branches, and cut off the topmost buds of the flowering branches to inhibit the growth of the flowering branches, so as to encourage the flowering branches to grow more flower buds from the base the following year.

2. Pruning branches

After the flowering period, we should carry out a round of branch pruning, cutting off all the branches on the tree peony plant that waste nutrients, such as leggy branches, thin and weak branches, and diseased or dead branches. Then we should clear and prune the branches that are unfavorable for the plant's shape, such as overlapping branches, crossing branches and messy branches, so that the plant's form becomes airy and its growth becomes good.

3. Removing buds

After pruning the useless overlapping branches and leggy branches, we should look for buds growing in an inward direction on the branches and cut off these inward-growing buds, keeping the outward-growing buds, so as to encourage the tree peony to grow and spread outward and form a lush crown. After pruning is finished, sterilize promptly.

4. Clearing suckers

After carrying out these pruning tasks, we can lightly clean up the potting soil, lightly remove soil from the roots, look for sprouting suckers on the stems close to the roots, and clear these soil-borne buds that would grow into branches, to save nutrients for the tree peony. After clearing is finished, we should sterilize promptly, let them dry slightly, and replant.