Proper peony care in July will have a huge impact on how well your plant will flower next year. Now your peony has finished blooming for this summer, it’s busy producing and storing the energy it needs to grow the next set of glorious blooms. Help your plant in this task and you will be richly rewarded with even more beautiful ruffles of petals next spring.
Once July’s glorious show of lush petals is over, it’s all too easy to forget peony plant for the rest of the summer. And without targeted midsummer care, your peony will it still blooms next year. But, with the right care, you’ll support your plant to develop the biggest, most blooming blooms ever. Proper summer care is especially important this year, as there is no telling how long will this heat wave last?and heat-stressed plants will prioritize basic survival over another season of abundant blooms. And why miss this opportunity when your peony is quick and easy in July when it needs it?
July peony care isn’t complicated, but these four simple tasks will help your plant cope with the stress of high summer temperatures and allow it to focus on storing the fuel it needs for beautiful flowers next year.
1. Prune spent flowers to grow stronger roots
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The vast majority of peonies begin to form seeds in leathery pods as soon as the flower petals begin to fade. This uses a lot of energy that could be put into growing a larger root system to provide more abundant flowers the following year. So your first priority when it comes to summer peony care is to cut off the old blooms. Use a sharp pair of bypass pruners to deadhead peonies – and sharpen the blades first, if you haven’t for a while, because clean cuts are easier for the plant to heal – to cut the stem just above the first healthy leaf below the faded flower.
To avoid pests and fungal diseases, it is best to put cut flowers in the trash rather than letting them fall to the ground.
Diatom (Itoh) peonies And some modern hybrid varieties of peonies are sterile, so don’t produce seed, but it’s wise to still have them dead to keep your plant tidy and avoid disease.
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2. Clean up dead and damaged leaves to prevent disease
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Peonies are susceptible to several fungi diseases that stress the plant. A diseased plant will use up valuable energy to fight the infection, the affected leaves will not be able to photosynthesize and if left untreated, some fungal diseases can even kill it. Fungi can also go dormant over winter, directly affecting next year’s flowering.
While botrytisoften called peony ants and gray mold, usually attacking in the spring, you may spot powdery mildew on peonies in summer, with the leaves looking as if they were dusted with fine white flour. If peony leaf spotoften called peony measles, undetected in the spring, you may also see it in July, when the small red spots will begin to merge into dark, irregular patches (pictured above).
Collect any leaves that have fallen to the ground as well as remove dead or damaged leaves from the plant and dispose of them in the trash to avoid re-infection. It is also important to wipe down the pruners with rubbing alcohol such as MaxTite 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol from Amazon between cuts. Identification of peony disease will determine if you need to take further precautions.
Leave the healthy green foliage in place for now, as all these leaves act as solar panels in the summer and fall, photosynthesizing to produce energy that will be stored in the plant’s fleshy tubers, ready to fuel next year’s growth. Wait until the foliage dies back after the first frost, before pruning herbaceous peonies in late fall.
3. Water deeply once a week
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Established peonies are relatively drought tolerant, making it easy to skip these plants in your watering cycle. But if you’re wondering how to get bigger peony flowers next year, watering is a critical part of your care plan. Right now, the plant is using all that energy it’s making with its leaves to grow a stronger root system, but from next month until fall, it will start forming tiny, embryonic buds called “eyes” just below the soil surface. These buds will remain dormant throughout the winter and, next spring, will come to life, sending upward stalks with baby buds already formed.
Think of these post-bloom summer months as bud planning time, and you’ll understand why keeping your peony hydrated now will result in better blooms next year.
However, it is important to water peonies properlygiving your plants a weekly deep soak instead of a daily sprinkling. Deep watering so that the water penetrates deep into the soil encourages the root system to follow the moisture downwards, making the plant more resilient. Daily light watering leads to weaker, shallow roots. Because peony roots are fleshy tubers, limiting watering to once a week at most ensures that the soil doesn’t become soggy, when the tubers can rot.
Young or newly planted peony plants that have not yet developed a strong root system and peonies in containersit will need more frequent watering.
Water the soil instead of wetting the leaves to reduce the risk of fungal infection.
4. Improve nutrients and moisture with a coating
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The final step of what peonies need in July is a 2-inch layer mulch Placed on the surface of the soil to lock moisture in. You can use any natural material, such as homemade compost, all-purpose scraps potting soil or a specially formulated plaster. The advantage of using a natural layer is that nutrients will leach into the earth to slowly feed the plant and the organic matter will eventually rot to improve the soil structure for healthy growth.
Use a bow rake, spreading the mulch with the tines and then turning the rake over to level it with its flat edge.
It is important not to flood the center of the plant with mulch, as a crown that is buried too deep will not bloom well, and organic material that holds water in the stems can lead to rot. Peonies have wide rather than deep root systems, so spread the mulch around the plant, keeping it away from the central stems.
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The common mistake that could damage your peony in July
It may seem logical to feed your peony in July to give the plant more energy to form those all-important roots and eyes, but don’t be tempted. Fertilize your peony now and you won’t be doing the plant a favor.
For starters, peonies are light feeders and the general rule of thumb is not to fertilize this plant unless you have a reason to. While it is common – though by no means necessary – to feed peony plants in springwhen those beautiful fresh red shoots are about 2-4 inches tall, feeding in late summer can interrupt the plant’s natural cycle. Feeding new growth at this point in the year can interfere with the plant’s preparations to go dormant in the fall.
While some laymen do fertilizing soon after the flowers fade, feeding it in late summer – even with a lower nitrogen fertilizer – will encourage the plant to waste energy on new leaves rather than storing it in its tubers, ready for next spring. This extra foliage growth can make a plant more susceptible to fungal diseases once wet weather arrives.
A natural mulch will give your peony all the nutrients it needs, without extra fertilizer. If you are at all concerned about your peony, or think the plant is showing signs of not getting all the nutrients it needs, then don’t fertilize “just in case.” Instead, test your soil to find out exactly what the problem is, with a laboratory soil test kit, such as Sta-Green from Lowe’s.
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Peony care in July is all about keeping your plant happy and healthy so it can put all its energy into developing next year’s buds and a strong root system to support them. Weeding, removing damaged leaves, deep watering and mulching will ensure your peony has everything it needs to bloom beautifully next spring. While you will have to wait a while for the results, the gorgeous flowers will be worth your efforts.
