Sinking peonies

11 years ago

Most of my peonies are in raised beds, which over the years have been sinking and getting too deep to bloom in our climate. I top dress every year with new compost, being careful to apply around the plants, not on top of them. This last year 4 out of about 20 failed to bloom. Now I am digging them one a day, taking divisions and replanting higher. At my age(86) it is a heavy digging and I hope to avoid more in the future by raising after a year or two before the roots become so massive that many are broken in the digging. I expect next year I will have some more that fail to bloom and will have to be dug. Al

Featured Answer

dbarron

11 years ago

I agree with the previous poster. I'm about 50 and gardening is already becoming noticably harder than it was in my 30s.

However, I find I can work much harder on my garden than almost anything else ;)

I was about to ask how your peonies sink into the ground, and I see now..since you add top dressings.

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Comments (9)

KarenPA_6b
11 years ago
Hi Al! It is amazing that you can do all that at age 86! Kudos to you for taking such good care of your health. Can you share your secret? I doubt if I can still dig holes to plant even at 70. How old is your peony? It must be huge! Karen
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calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
Original Author
11 years ago
My garden is on a hillside,so my raised beds are more like terraces. I have three, each about 40 feet long, and 12 inches high. The three peony I have not in these boxes/terraces, but directly in the native clay, also 15 years old, have not had a sinking problem. It is true I have added quite a lot of compost over the years, but the soil level has nor risen above the 12 inch retainer, while the peonies have sunken below the soil. We will have to see how long this remedy will be effective, maybe another 15 years. Al
peonyman
11 years ago
Al,
Another 15 years and you will be a young 101, Probably still lifting and dividing peonies. I have been topdressing a tree peony bed for a number of years and that seemed to give them problems also. I have a few fern-leaf peonies in that bed and they seem to be able to take the deeper depth OK.
Leon
amberdim
11 years ago
Honestly,guys I always imagine you very young... soo impressed. 86 and 70. I really admire you for all the help and comforting words I received from you.It is great, how we are consider you to be our friends without even meet each other.
flowergirl70ks
11 years ago
Shoot Al, you've only got 5 years on me. I dug one last year, but probably won't do that again. peonyman, I didn't know you could get a tree too deep. Mine are pretty agey, but I put compost around them every year, and they have always bloomed well, but this year I'm afraid most of them will have to come from the ground. the buds are already dried up.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
Original Author
11 years ago
When digging old peonies there is usually a lot of broken roots with a bud or two worth trying to salvage. In digging a total of five old plants, saving and replanting the best divisions, I ended up with twenty pieces I thought I could save. Here is how they look after two months potted up. Al
Nancy
11 years ago
Those are some good looking peonies, Al, to be the leftovers :) Doesn't seem like digging a peony would be that hard since roots are supposed to be close to the surface, but just doesn't work out that easy, does it? Mine aren't really big enough to need to be divided, but I moved a couple last year, trying to move the whole clump at a time. A LOT harder than I expected. I can imagine how hard it will be when they really bulk up.
fuuuuuuhouzz
11 years ago
Poenyman what is ur fb ?