Peonies will grow big and beautiful in spring if you act now

may seem like the time to put your feet up and keep warm, but carrying out some garden tasks now is vital if you want your garden blooming come spring.

growing beautiful peonies, now is the time to cut them back, experts have said. This is vital for helping to prevent disease and the plant wilting in the spring, experts at The English Garden said.

Peonies may look like they need, but “will survive the harshest English winter” and will “actually flower better following a cold winter”. They are also less likely to suffer the effects of diseas and pests.

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If you see ants crawling over the plant, fear not. This is unlikely to damage it, but you can still keep this plant as healthy as possible and cutting them back to around 2.5cm is ideal. The English Garden said: “This helps prevent potential disease such as peony wilt in the spring. Burn or dispose of the dead foliage to avoid spreading disease.”

The team at Gardeners' World Magazine said growing peonies requires “a rich but well-drained soil in a position of full sun”, so tailor your garden to this if you can. Do not plant peonies in waterlogged soil.

Tree peonies, meanwhile do not need pruning. ”All you need to do is remove the faded seed heads in autumn,” Gardeners' World said. “Don’t be tempted to pick off the faded foliage in autumn – let it fall off naturally. Avoid pruning tree peonies hard back as they are often grafted onto herbaceous peonies.”

While hardy, peonies can still face problems like 'peony wilt', when the fungi botrytis causes the stems to rot. You can spot peony wilt by looking to see if there are patches of brown tissue on leaves, or patches of infection on leaf stalks and flower stems. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said that infection in the flowers will occur just below the bud, while a fuzzy grey mould will appear on affected parts of the plant in wet conditions.

Gardeners' World said: “It's best to avoid planting peonies too closely together. Remove any leaves with dark spots on them as this will help to reduce the spread of the fungus. When cutting back herbaceous types in autumn, clear up all the foliage to avoid reinfection in spring.”