Caring for the Herbaceous Peony Garden
It’s the first day of autumn, and the season's chores are well underway here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Supporting a working farm is a lot of work. In order for it to thrive, animals and gardens need constant tender loving care. We keep a running list of all the chores that need to be done at any given time, so it always looks and functions at its best. Recently, my outdoor grounds crew cleaned up the herbaceous peony garden - removed the stakes and twine from the peony rows, weeded the footpaths, and carefully trimmed the surrounding boxwood hedges.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The boxwood has been growing like crazy this year. One can see inches of new growth on all the hedges and shrubs. The outdoor grounds crew has been very busy trimming and sculpting all the boxwood around my Winter House including the gorgeous hedges surrounding my herbaceous peonies.
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- Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.
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- Phurba is excellent at trimming and sculpting the boxwood. First, he uses our STIHL HSA 25 Battery-Powered Garden Shear. The hedge shear attachment with double-sided cutting blades cut both directions. It’s one of our favorite tools – it’s very light and handy.
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- Here is one of the boxwood shrubs before it is trimmed – look at all the growth.
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- Next, Phurba sculpts the shrubs by hand. Twice a year, we groom and prune the boxwood. This is always done with hand shears to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.
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- Phurba uses these Okatsune 30-inch long Hedge Shears. Okatsune shears are light and precise, and come in a range of sizes – look for them in garden shops or online.
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- Phurba moves down each side, carefully clipping and sculpting each one. Here, one can see which shrubs he has done and which ones he still has to do.
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- Afterward, the boxwood sides look full and well shaped. He moves onto the tops next.
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- Meanwhile, Pasang and Domi tackle the peonies. After the peonies bloom in summer, they are deadheaded, but the foliage is left intact until late fall. The plants need all of the leaves to build up the energy to make blooms for next year. These stems will be cut down later in the season.
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- Pasang uses a hoe to weed in between the rows of peonies. This is a long-handled garden weed hoe. Garden hoes are ideal for chopping, weeding, and clearing garden growth. This one has a six-inch-wide blade for optimal weeding. Hoes basically work by dragging them back and forth over the ground to cut unwanted growth.
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- Once all the footpaths are clear of weeds, Domi removes all the jute twine from the stakes around the peonies. Without the flowers to get wet and heavy and topple over, it doesn’t take much support to keep the stems upright, so the stakes and twine are no longer necessary.
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- Pasang follows behind to remove the stakes.
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- I designed these stakes myself and had them made for my garden. Each metal support has two eyes, one at the top and one in the middle. They’ve worked excellently for my peonies.
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- Sometimes it is easier to spot my crew by the bags that are sitting nearby. These are my Multi-Purpose Heavy-Duty Garden Tote Bags in slate and black – available on Amazon. We use them all the time on my farm. It’s made from rugged, rip-resistant woven polypropylene fabric and measures approximately 20-inches wide by 20-inches long by 24-inches tall. The straps are reinforced and wrap all around the bag for extra support. The crew loves their portability.
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- It takes Phurba several days to trim all the boxwood. Here’s Phuba now working on the inside – manicuring each shrub perfectly.
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- To care for my boxwood, I also use TOPBUXUS – a fast-acting boxwood fertilizer that stops and prevents yellow-straw colored leaves. It is an eco- and pollinator-friendly product that comes in easy-to-use tablets. These can be found on Amazon. We have been using TOPBUXUS around the farm for almost two years. Every month or so, we give all the boxwood a good spray. The tablets are small – just an inch in diameter. To use, simply dissolve it in water and then spray. One tablet treats up to 100 square feet of boxwood.
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- This beautiful boxwood hedge completely surrounds the peony garden on four sides. I designed it to grow in two layers – they’ve matured so nicely over the years. Boxwood is naturally a round or oval shaped shrub that can reach up to 15 feet in height.
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- Here is one side – also finished. When caring for boxwood, remember good drainage is critical and always water them deeply to reach the root zone of growing boxwood. And, as many of you know, I cover mine in burlap every winter to protect them from frost, wind, and any heavy snow that could splay the branches.
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- Here is a view from the corner of the peony garden with the ginkgo tree and the beautiful landscape beyond.
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- The finished boxwood hedges look great. It’s a strong start to our long list of autumn chores. With nightly temperatures already dropping down to the 40s, our next big task is to start preparing the greenhouses to store all my tropical plants.
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