Garden shrubs – Tree Peony

Believe it or not, tree peonies are extremely hardy and will survive almost anywhere, belying their highly fragile appearance. It's true that they really like an airy, reasonably open situation as air movement around the plant helps prevent fungal diseases like peony wilt – but the main problem that people have had with this plant is that they've taken this advice too much to heart and stuck their tree peony in a completely exposed situation where flower petals are blown away quickly shortening the life of the flowers.

Because these plants begin to grow very early in the year (that's part of their hardiness) young developing buds can be damaged by frost if exposed to early morning sunshine which means you want to plant them where this can't happen ideally on a north, south or west facing aspect. You need to plant bare rooted tree peonies deeply and all pot grown, root-balled or containerised specimens should be planted slightly deeper than the soil level in the pot. Water well after planting and during the following summer.

These are plants that respond well to pruning and to get the best from a tree peony you should have in your mind's eye a broad-spreading, multi-stemmed shrub which will not need staking. With a young plant, only remove dead wood during the first two years to help get the plant established . After this if your plant forms a good shape, no regular pruning is needed, but if your plant has few stems and/or is poorly shaped, then prune it hard. If you see buds at the base of the stem or shoots coming from below the soil, prune them down to six inches or less from the ground. The best time to prune is early spring, although this may mean that you sacrifice some flowers in the coming year. You can prune directly after flowering but re-growth will be slower.

Tree Peony photograph by normanack, used under a creative commons attribution license.