Dividing Peonies

After months of planning, my husband and I are driving from Atlanta to Kansas City this weekend to dig and divide two peony bushes from my mother's childhood home that were grown from divisions of a 'Peony- Kansas' bush that grew at my great-grandmother's house back in 1952.

This is obviously a special, once in a lifetime opportunity that I REALLY don't want to mess up!

Any peony pros out there with tips for success? I have divided dahlia tubers in the past with success, but never peonies. I am bringing a couple rubbermaid bins to put the root system in until I get back home and can hose them off early next week.

Thank you in advance!!

Laura

I have had good and bad results on splitting / division of shrub peonies, But maybe the bad results were due to the timing being wrong.

From my good results the and the method I used was more or less for the division you mentioned as for Dahlia's.

The best time for this work is either early spring just as the new FAT buds are showing from the root area, You need to very gently scrape away soil from around the root area, (this could be several feet IF the tubers / roots are as old as you say, unlike dahlia's, these tuberous roots are as tough as old boots, and the idea is to try NOT smash or break the tubers, IF you need to use a garden fork, try NOT to force the fork into the tuber that goes way down into the soil out of sight.

Firstly, have to pots prepared well before you start to lift the tuber / roots, you need this done before lifting the tuber so it is NOT allowed to dry out in the heat or bright weather.

Once you have uncovered the tuber / root, you either lift as much out of the soil as you can with care using the fork and hold the heavy clumps of soil out of the hole with the tuber in tact as well as possible.
Lay the tuber / root on the ground and use your hands to squeeze and gently knock away some of the soil to expose the tuber /roots. take a good look at the tuber / root's and look for fat plump part that MUST have small roots attached/ these are the roots that search for water, the tough roots are grown by nature to help stabilise the large tuber /roots into the ground because they are shallow rooted and take time to send down roots, they want to spread out first.

Place the cut off tuber / roots into the prepared pots, Make sure the cut tubers is placed only JUST under the top of the soil about an inch only soil on top (like lots of tuberous plants, they DON'T like buried too deep as they like the sun to ripen the tubers.
IF you cant get the cut up tuber potted up right away, place the bit's into a large container of water for several hours as they DON'T like laying about in dry air.

Once you have potted all the tuberous part up and watered, allow the pots to drain.
IF you are planning to travel with the pots after a few days, DON'T give water as they will be laying in wet soil and draining all over the vehicle your moving them in. IF your NOT moving /transporting the potted tubers for several days / a week maybe, then place them outdoors in a sheltered place until your ready to set off back to where you plan to reset out the Peony's.

IF your having to keep the cuttings outdoors in the new environment where you live, until the temps are right for that, and you need to prep the soil by adding as much humus to the new growing area as possible, make sure the tubers don't completely dry out in the pot, BUT don't let the soil get too wet as at this time of year, these plants should be going into winter sleep/ dormant.

Next spring, after preparing the planting soil for the tubers, make sure you plant the tubers just under the soil, try NOT loose disturb the compost around the tubers and their roots, make the hole and place the tuber into this hole BUT use your fingers to gently press down the soil around the root to remove any air pockets, and if you can, leave an indent around the tuber to allow a small puddle of water to slowly drain down into the roots area, this will help the fine roots to soak up moisture as these tubers are hungry feeders and need water too. when you place plenty humus into the soil at the final planting area, this will help feed the roots and hold onto moisture BUT now leave the plants in soaking wet water.

Hope this helps you out and you have much success, many years enjoyment and fond lasting memories of your childhood years, it is amazing how nature can help keep all the good and bad times alive for us, so make sure you enjoy this continuation of a plant your MUM knew and loved herself.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.