When and how to trim back your peonies

The secret to knowing when to cut back your peonies comes to looking at the leaves. They will tell you when it’s time!

This picture above is a perfect example of a frosty peony plant with leaves that are signaling it’s time to be cut back.

You don’t want to cut back your peonies too early if you can avoid it.

The one main signal to look for when it comes to cutting back your peonies is the leaves.

If the leaves are still green, they are still using sunlight to feed the roots. As a general rule of thumb, if the leaves are less than 50% green, it’s time to cut. You do not want to cut off the plant’s food supply if it is still storing up for the long winter ahead.

If there are disease spots go ahead and trim those off, but leave healthy leaves to continue making their magic. If your plant has a bad case of disease and it’s already mostly or all shriveled and brown, go ahead and cut the whole plant at this time.

Herbaceous peonies should be cut back in the fall when the leaves are no longer green. That’s the key, look at the color of the leaves! When the leaves are showing their fall color and likely you’ve had a frost or two, then stems should be trimmed off to about 2-3” above the ground. Dispose of the leaves in the trash or burn if you can. Do not the compost peonies to cut down on the chance of spreading disease. Use a sharp, clean pruner.

While herbaceous, or garden peonies, die back completely to the ground each year, that isn’t the case for Intersectional and woody peonies.

Intersectional and Itoh peonies should be cut back to where the growth becomes woody.

Woody peonies (tree peonies) should never be cut back, although leaves can be taken trimmed off.

Always reach out with any peony questions you may have!