Flowering in late spring or during the early summer months, peonies are a great way to add a dramatic touch to your garden. Known to produce brightly-coloured blooms in shades of cream, pink and yellow, one expert has shared a simple method for making them appear even more vibrant.
Gardening expert and House Digest’s flower specialist Sam Arthurs has shared that paying extra attention to the soil your peony is planted in will make a huge difference in how it blooms. Sam said: “They will grow in a variety of soil conditions. The two extreme cases to avoid would be very sandy soil and heavy clay soil. These two environments are tricky for most plants.”
Sandy soil is generally easy to work with. Its gritty texture means it quickly drains water and can dry out quickly. As a result, it tends to be low in nutrients essential for growing many plants, including peonies.
Clay soil, on the other hand, drains slowly after rain, making it rich in nutrients as it holds onto more water. However, this type of soil is heavy to work with and can take a long time to warm up in spring, which isn’t ideal for plants that bloom during this time.
If you are growing your peony plant in sandy or clay soil, fear not—Sam provides an easy way to remedy this and create ideal soil conditions.
Add amendments across an area larger than the root ball to sandy or clay soil to renew the area, ensuring it goes deep and wide into the soil. “Go a couple feet deep and wide, allowing for the roots to grow in amended soil,” says Sam.
Amendments simply refer to adding organic matter to improve the quality of soil. This material can be anything from compost to manure and leafmould.
Adding amendments to soil is common garden maintenance for many. This makes it easier for certain types of soil to hold water and provides plants with essential nutrients that will help them grow and bloom.
But depending on which type of soil you have, the process might look slightly different, and there are some things you should look out for. Sam warned about the clay blow effect when adding amendments to clay soil.
Amendments should be added “wide and deep enough to keep the impenetrable clay from holding the water around the root ball.”
As sand has a hard time holding onto water, Arthurs recommends adding compost or peat moss to improve this. And if you haven’t yet planted your peonies, you can easily make your soil mix for improved drainage by adding perlite, peat moss or coco choir to your mix.
