Want to know the best way to prepare my peonies for spring? My Peonies are starting to sprout leaves in my garden. I have to admit, I’m a bit of a lazy gardener, so I honestly do the minimal to get my peonies ready for Spring. I’ve figured out how to grow them on auto-pilot. Below, I’ll show you exactly what I do to get my peonies ready for the growing season.
How to Prepare Your Peonies for Spring
1. Fertilize Your Peonies
Peonies don’t need to be fertilized frequently. You can fertilize once in the Spring when the buds are still emerging and once after the flowers have faded. But if you only have time to fertilize your Peonies once this year, no problem!
They will survive. I sometimes only fertilize once a year. And to be honest, there have been years where I have been too busy and did not fertilize my Peonies at all! They still lived, but I did notice fewer flowers. Fertilizing does make a difference in how prolific it gets. It helps them bloom nicely.
So, the fertilizer that I use on my Peonies is a slow-release granule fertilizer. Use fertilizers with less nitrogen, such as 3-4-5, 3-5-5, or 5-6-5.
The first number is for nitrogen, the second number is for phosphorus, and the third is for potassium. Don’t use a high nitrogen fertilizer since that will just result in fewer flowers and thin, floppy stems. Trust me, I learned it the hard way.
I like the granule fertilizer as opposed to the liquid fertilizer because I’m lazy. I find it easier to sprinkle fertilizer on my Peonies. With the liquid fertilizer, you will have to mix it with water, which is just an extra step in the process.
2. Mulch
I mulch around my Peonies once a year in the Spring. I like to add some mulch around the base of the plants. This helps them retain water, so I don’t have to worry about them drying out.
Plus, I can be a lazy gardener because I don’t have to water them as often. I usually water my Peonies once a week, but I’ll increase it a bit if there’s a heatwave.
Keep in mind that I live in Connecticut, so if you live somewhere warmer, you will need to water your Peonies more often. You can’t get away with watering once a week! Another advantage of mulching is that it keeps the weeds out.
But be very careful when mulching. Don’t mulch too close to the stem. It’s best to keep the soil around the stem clear of mulch.
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3. Add Support
Spring is a great time to add support to your peonies. Peonies have a tendency to flop over because the flowers grow too big and heavy. So you’ll want to prop the flowers up with stakes and cages.
I use tomato cages to support my peonies. The easiest time to put the support is when the peonies are just emerging otherwise, it’s going to be really tough to get the support in.
But it’s not the end of the world if you don’t add support in the Spring. I know life gets busy and I personally have been guilty of forgetting to add the support until later in the summer when my peonies are in full bloom.
Don’t worry, it’s doable. I actually have an article to show you how to add support to your peonies when it’s in full bloom, you can read it if you want to see how I do it.
Another lazy gardener tip that I have is to actually just leave the support all year round. I don’t even bother removing the support, it’s just always there!
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