Protecting newly planted Dormant Roots

20 years ago

I just finished planting seven Dormant Peony roots near my front walkway.(most have sprouting eyes, but no feeder roots yet) This area gets most of its sun in the afternoon. We are having cool nights and very nice warm spring days. I planted the roots very shallow, with eyes about 1-2 inches into the dirt...this is leaving some of the thickest part of the bulb on some of the peonies at soil level or even exposed after I watered. I have wood mulch covering much of this bed and very lightly covered the newly planted peonies too...some of the roots have longer stems developing from the eyes then others...on these, I left the stems sticking out of the mulch. Does this sound right?....is the mulch over the tops of the roots a good idea?...Should I put more extra dirt on top of them while they (hopefully) start putting down roots?(then I can wash some of that excess away later after they are leafing out?) I know a potted and actively growing peony can be planted almost anytime(and I have some of those to plant this week too!)...but these are dormant roots, and I want to protect them appropriately until they get going...(I know they ideally should have been planted in the fall, but I discovered them this spring, so here I am!)...Thanks for everyones advise and help...GardenLove

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Comments (5)

diannp
20 years ago
Which direction did you plant the eyes? up or down? You're note confuses me a bit.. (That's not hard to do on a Monday afternoon, tho. ;) )

Diann
IA Z5a
gardenlove
Original Author
20 years ago
I planted them "up"(to the best of my knowledge!)...some of the roots were oddly shaped..thickened and/or contorted, or the eyes were growing kinda sideways so I planted them in the direction that the majority of the eyes were headed(up)...on a couple of them, there may have been a tiny bud or two that could have gone either way, and on those, I just planted according to what the majority seemed to be doing...So, do thes Peony roots always have a definite "up" or "down"?..most of mine were very obvious which way was up, but a couple of them were juts oddballs!...(and thats what I meant by the thickened part of some roots being exposed after watering, the ones that had a shape that left part of the root up at the surface)...Now, I might be second guessing myself though!...I just put them in, so I could always uncover one or two and make sure make sure I really did them right...I just kinda made a groove in the dirt the same shape as the root(lets pretend it looks like a banana or large piece of Ginger root may be better) and laid it horizontally in the groove...and then packed dirt up around the sides and a small amount of dirt over the top...I did not plant them vertically..(uh oh...was I supposed to??..I could really use a visual picture of a dormant root being properly planted...I guess you can tell I am a real newbie!...haha)....thanks for any thoughts..GardenLove
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diannp
20 years ago
Since you've planted all the eyes facing upwards, I'd just put some more dirt over the root that is showing, water them again and if the root is still showing add a little more dirt. Peonies are tough critters, as long as the eyes are not below two inches you should be fine. Relax, it will be ok.

Diann
IA Z5a
gardenlove
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks so much for your kind Reply Diann...I will take your advise and just relax and enjoy:)....What peony varieties do you grow well in your zone(we are in similar climates)...do you have any "favorites" that just stand out as "must haves"?...Take care!...Sonia
diannp
20 years ago
Aw jeeze, Sonia, I never met a peony I didn't like. ;) I prefer the Japanese and bomb forms, and my husband prefers the single forms. After I learned that you needed to cage a lot of the doubles I really began to appreciate them more. Tree peonies are beginning to get more and more of my attention. I now have seven or nine of them. I'm increasingly becoming interested in intersectionals (or Itoh) peonyies for the wonderful yellow colors... They will be next on my agenda to acquire. :) Species peonies are beginning to catch my interest, too. Like I said, I've never met a peony I didn't like. :) As far as favorites, that depends on who is in bloom at the moment.:)

Diann
IA Z5a