After Flowering, Should Peony Be Cut Down?

Gardening expert Melissa Strauss provides a guide on pruning peonies for health and growth. Herbaceous peonies benefit from being cut back in autumn, while tree peonies should not be cut back to the ground yearly but can be pruned for health. Tree peonies should be pruned after the first hard frost and remove any diseased foliage as soon as they notice it. Dead or diseased stems should be removed until the plant has died back naturally.

Pranching should be done carefully in the fall, especially after a peony bloom begins to fade. Tree peonies have woody stems that stay above ground year-round, produce larger flowers, and bloom earlier in the season. The best time to prune a tree peony is right after it blooms, using clean pruners. Herbaceous peonies should be cut back between October and November, after the first frost and when the foliage has died back naturally.

In the fall and early spring, wait until the plant dies down on its own or loses color before clearing the foliage in the dormant season. Perennials take up energy, so removing the main bloom that has faded allows smaller side blooms to receive all the root’s energy and bloom faster, keeping the flowers.

Timing off dead peony blooms while leaving the foliage intact is essential for the plant to build up the blooms for the next year. Cut the leaves right after the blooming period is over, as they are the food source for the next year’s blooms.